Attachment to God is an application of attachment
theory to understand the relationship between people and God. As in
attachment theory, the two dimensions of anxiety vs. peace or calm and
avoidance vs. closeness can be measured separately, although the two dimensions
are positively correlated.
Lee A. Kirkpatrick (2012) of the College of William and Mary along with his colleagues (e.g., Kirkpatrick & Shaver, 1990) is usually credited with an early application of attachment theory (e.g., Ainsworth, 1969; Bowlby, 1969) to believer-God relationships. Attachment to God may be limited to religions like Christianity, which explicitly use the language of family relationships such as God-father and offer parent-like descriptions of God as caring and loving.
Attachment to God has been measured in different ways. It is
possible to use two items measuring the relationship to God as anxious or
avoidant. However, the Attachment to God Inventory (AGI) developed by Richard
Beck and Angie McDonald has been widely used with some success.
Related Posts
References
Ainsworth, M. D. S. (1969). Object relations, dependency,
and attachment: A theoretical review of the infant-mother relationship. Child
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Beck, R., & McDonald, A.
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Bowlby, J. (1969). Attachment
and loss: Vol. 1. Attachment. New York, NY: Basic Books.
Hall, T. W., Fujikawa, A., Halcrow,
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Weaks, K. Cogswell, P. E., & Miphouvieng, R. N. (2007). Does gender matter?
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s11089-007-0072-3 Online Link http://www.springerlink.com/content/
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Tjeltveit,
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