Attachment, Religion, and Spirituality (Elements in the Psychology of Religion)

Across the world, most people are religious or spiritual, and many have a strong relational-emotional bond (attachment relationship) with God(s).This Element summarizes social-scientific theory and research on these relationships.Part I outlines basic principles of attachment and religion/spirituality.Part II describes normative (human-universal) processes and patterns.It explains how God and other supernatural beings often serve as irreplaceable relational caregivers (attachment figures), safe havens, and secure bases for people.Then it examines how religious/spiritual development interacts with attachment maturation across the lifespan.Part III explores individual differences in human and religious/spiritual attachment.After describing human-attachment differences, it examines how such differences can manifest jointly in forms of emotionally/socially correspondent or emotionally compensatory human attachment and religion/spirituality.Part IV discusses applied theory and research on r