Abstract
Many religious individuals use ordinary social cognitions when thinking about God's characteristics. In the absence of a generally accepted measure, we developed a measure assessing God representations as authoritarian (A-God) and benevolent (B-God) using 4 community samples of Christians. Using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (Studies 1 and 2), we found support for a 2-factor model. The 2-week test-retest reliability estimates were .78 and .81 (Study 3). In Study 4, we validated our new measure. B-God was associated with a secure attachment style, whereas A-God was not associated with attachment style. B-God was positively associated with agreeableness and conscientiousness, whereas A-God was negatively associated with agreeableness. Controlling for personality and other God representation measures, the A-God subscale predicted the value of power, and the B-God subscale predicted the value of benevolence. The usefulness of the measure for future research is discussed.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 227-238 |
| Number of pages | 12 |
| Journal | Psychology of Religion and Spirituality |
| Volume | 7 |
| Issue number | 3 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Aug 1 2015 |
Keywords
- God concept
- God image
- God representation
- religious beliefs
- values
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Religious studies
- Applied Psychology