A Longitudinal Study of Changes in Religious Belief and Behavior as a Function of Individual Differences in Adult Attachment Style

Abstract

Four years after responding to a newspaper survey on attachment and close relationships, 146 women completed a follow-up survey on changes in their religious belief and experience during the interim period. Logistic regression analyses were used to predict Time 2 religion variables prospectively from adult attachment styles as measured at Time 1, statistically controlling for Time 1 religious commitment. Insecure-avoidant and insecure-anxious women, as measured at Time 1, were more likely than secure women to report having found a new relationship with God in the subsequent four-year period, and insecure-anxious women were more likely than both other groups to report a religious experience or conversion during that period. Results are interpreted in terms of religious beliefs serving a compensatory role for individuals lacking secure interpersonal attachments.

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