The effect of adult attachment, God, and faith tradition on religious orientation

The purpose of this study was to examine adult attachment theory and the dimensions of anxiety and avoidance on religious orientation. This study examined whether adult attachment predicted religious orientation and if attachment to God moderated the effect adult attachment had on religious orientation. This study also examined whether attachment to God moderated the effect faith tradition had on religious orientation. For the purpose of this study, faith tradition focused on individuals who identified with one of three specific religious groups: (a) Jewish, (b) Christian, and (c) Muslim. The Duke Religion Index scale was included in the demographic questionnaire to measure religiousness in a comprehensive yet brief and non-offensive manner. One measure (ECR-R) assessed the underlying two dimensions of adult attachment-related anxiety and avoidance for participants' attachment relationship. The second measure (AGI) assessed the participants' attachment relationship with God. The third measure (ROS-R) assessed intrinsic and extrinsic religious orientation. The research sample consisted of 170 individuals recruited from the three diverse religious groups. The Jewish representation was reviewed in the demographic discussion, but due to an inadequate sample size was only included in the descriptive analysis. Study results for the first set of analyses suggested that adult attachment-related avoidance predicted intrinsic religious orientation. The second set of analyses, attachment to God as the moderator, did not alter the relationship between adult attachment and religious orientation. The third set of analyses, attachment to God as the moderator revealed that attachment to God-anxiety did alter the relationship between faith tradition and religious orientation in the direction of extrinsic social.