Review2004

RESEARCH: "Religious Conversion and Perceived Childhood Attachment: A Meta-Analysis"

182 citations0/0 files storedInternational Journal for the Psychology of Religion

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Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology Study and Philosophy of Religion Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Abstract

In this article we review previous work on religious conversions, relate this work to attachment system dynamics, and present a meta-analysis of results from 11 cross-national questionnaire studies (N = 1465) that have investigated links between religious conversions and perceived childhood attachment history with parents. Two general hypotheses derived from attachment theory were tested. Based on the compensation hypothesis, it was predicted that sudden religious conversions would be associated on average with insecure, rather than secure, attachment histories. Based on the 2-level correspondence hypothesis, it was predicted that nonsudden conversions and gradual religious changes would be associated with a secure attachment history. Both predictions were supported in the meta-analyses, with small to medium effect sizes. It was concluded that attachment theory is a valuable framework for integrating previous findings and guiding future research on religious conversions, but that several methodological improvements should be made in future research.

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References

1969Attachment and Loss 1978Patterns of Attachment: A Psychological Study of the Strange Situation 1981Distribution Theory for Glass's Estimator of Effect Size and Related Estimators 1999Handbook of attachment: theory, research, and clinical applications 1902The varieties of religious experience: A study in human nature.1989A secure base: parent-child attachment and healthy human development 1998The Psychology of Religion and Coping: Theory Research Practice 1994Attachment as an Organizational Framework for Research on Close Relationships

Cited by

2007Examining relations among attachment, religiosity, and new age spirituality using the Adult Attachment Interview.2012Measurement in the psychology of religiousness and spirituality: Existing measures and new frontiers.2020Attachment theory and religion 2008Attachment and god representations among lay Catholics, priests, and religious: A matched comparison study based on the adult attachment interview.2009The Impact of Child-parent Attachment, Attachment to God and Religious Orientation on Psychological Adjustment

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