The Differential Prediction of Outcome Following Interpersonal Offenses Versus Impersonal Tragedies by Attachment to People and Attachment to God

Abstract

Previous research has found that attachment styles to people and to God are related. However, to my knowledge, no one has examined whether an individual’s attachment style to God is essentially another expression of general attachment style or whether it is a different, albeit, related construct. I hypothesized that God attachment styles are different and that this would be reflected in (1) attachment to people and attachment to God independently contributing to prediction of outcome following upsetting events, and (2) both attachment measures differentially predicting outcome following interpersonal offenses versus impersonal tragedies. Two studies were conducted, one examining Christians who had experienced an interpersonal offense and the other examining Christians who had experienced an impersonal tragedy. The results provided mixed support for the first hypothesis and stronger support for the second. Future research should include longitudinal studies in order to truly determine whether attachment scores uniquely predict subsequent outcome.