Title

Role of attachment to God and spiritual self-awareness in predicting evangelical Christians’ appraisals of suffering

School/Department

Rosemead School of Psychology

Publication Date

6-26-2018

Abstract

The present study examined how attachment to God and spiritual self-awareness are related to evangelical Christians’ appraisals of suffering. Specifically, we were interested in whether attachment anxiety and attachment avoidance with God were related to the appraised meaning of stressful life experiences as transformational and whether spiritual self-awareness mediated this relationship. A national sample (N = 988) of students from Christian institutions completed an online survey. The results indicated that individuals with high levels of attachment anxiety or attachment avoidance with God were less likely to view suffering as a means of spiritual growth and connection with God. Mediation analyses also showed that higher levels of avoidant attachment to God were related to lower levels of spiritual self-awareness, which in turn were related to reduced ability to appraise suffering as transformational. Clinical implications and directions for future research are discussed.

Keywords

Mindfulness (Psychology); Self-consciousness (Awareness)--Religious aspects

Publication Title

Mental Health, Religion & Culture

Volume

21

Issue

4

First Page

353

Last Page

369

DOI of Published Version

10.1080/13674676.2018.1494706

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