Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample

Hanneke Muthert; Hanneke Schaap-Jonker

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_11

Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample

Hanneke Muthert^*, Hanneke Schaap-Jonker

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review

Abstract

The development and functioning of representations of God are complex processes, in which psychological and cultural factors mutually influence each other. Attachment is a psychological factor that can provide insights into the representation and communication of ideas and experiences regarding supernatural agents in children’s drawings and narratives. Our hypotheses: (1) Securely attached children will use more God representation-related symbols in their drawings than insecurely attached children, (2) These symbols will have a referring and self-transcending character. We explore children’s drawings of God and their accompanying narratives with regard to attachment styles. We describe our theoretical framework and discuss the research process, our use of theory and materials, and our findings. We also present a qualitative analysis of drawings by both insecurely and securely attached children, focusing on qualitative aspects of the drawings and their use of religious symbols. Secure attachment is associated with more God representation-related symbols. Other drawing aspects also relate to attachment. We compare the occurrence of attachment characterizations of relationships with God, the padding of the paper, and the use of anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic images. Finally, we focus on the concrete localization of God on the paper, and the figurative place where children imagined God to be.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	When Children Draw Gods
Subtitle of host publication	A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents
Editors	Pierre-Yves Brandt, Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert, Christelle Coco, Dominique Vinck, Frédéric Darbellay
Publisher	Springer Science and Business Media B.V.
Chapter	11
Pages	285-321
Number of pages	37
ISBN (Electronic)	9783030944292
ISBN (Print)	9783030944285, 9783030944315
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_11
Publication status	Published - 2023

Publication series

Name	New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion
Volume	12
ISSN (Print)	2367-3494
ISSN (Electronic)	2367-3508

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the children who were willing to draw and narrate for the Dutch subsample of Dessins de dieux. The same is true for our Master’s students who collected these drawings and/or wrote their Master’s theses on this topic: Anouk Helmich, Anieljah de Kraker, Suzanne Landman, Sanne van Neijenhof, Ruth Pruis and Annemarie van der Vegt.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023, The Author(s).

Keywords

Attachment
Children’s drawings
Children’s narratives
God representations
Use of religious symbols

Access to Document

10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_11

Persistent URL (handle)

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Cite this

Muthert, H., & Schaap-Jonker, H. (2023). Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample. In P.-Y. Brandt, Z. Dandarova-Robert, C. Coco, D. Vinck, & F. Darbellay (Eds.), When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents (pp. 285-321). (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion; Vol. 12). Springer Science and Business Media B.V.. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_11

Muthert, Hanneke ; Schaap-Jonker, Hanneke. / Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God : A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample. When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. editor / Pierre-Yves Brandt ; Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert ; Christelle Coco ; Dominique Vinck ; Frédéric Darbellay. Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2023. pp. 285-321 (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion).

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abstract = "The development and functioning of representations of God are complex processes, in which psychological and cultural factors mutually influence each other. Attachment is a psychological factor that can provide insights into the representation and communication of ideas and experiences regarding supernatural agents in children{\textquoteright}s drawings and narratives. Our hypotheses: (1) Securely attached children will use more God representation-related symbols in their drawings than insecurely attached children, (2) These symbols will have a referring and self-transcending character. We explore children{\textquoteright}s drawings of God and their accompanying narratives with regard to attachment styles. We describe our theoretical framework and discuss the research process, our use of theory and materials, and our findings. We also present a qualitative analysis of drawings by both insecurely and securely attached children, focusing on qualitative aspects of the drawings and their use of religious symbols. Secure attachment is associated with more God representation-related symbols. Other drawing aspects also relate to attachment. We compare the occurrence of attachment characterizations of relationships with God, the padding of the paper, and the use of anthropomorphic and non-anthropomorphic images. Finally, we focus on the concrete localization of God on the paper, and the figurative place where children imagined God to be.",

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note = "Funding Information: We would like to express our sincere gratitude to all the children who were willing to draw and narrate for the Dutch subsample of Dessins de dieux. The same is true for our Master{\textquoteright}s students who collected these drawings and/or wrote their Master{\textquoteright}s theses on this topic: Anouk Helmich, Anieljah de Kraker, Suzanne Landman, Sanne van Neijenhof, Ruth Pruis and Annemarie van der Vegt. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2023, The Author(s).",

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Muthert, H & Schaap-Jonker, H 2023, Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample. in P-Y Brandt, Z Dandarova-Robert, C Coco, D Vinck & F Darbellay (eds), When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion, vol. 12, Springer Science and Business Media B.V., pp. 285-321. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_11

Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample. / Muthert, Hanneke; Schaap-Jonker, Hanneke.
When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. ed. / Pierre-Yves Brandt; Zhargalma Dandarova-Robert; Christelle Coco; Dominique Vinck; Frédéric Darbellay. Springer Science and Business Media B.V., 2023. p. 285-321 (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion; Vol. 12).

Research output: Chapter in Book / Report / Conference proceeding › Chapter › Academic › peer-review

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Muthert H, Schaap-Jonker H. Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample. In Brandt PY, Dandarova-Robert Z, Coco C, Vinck D, Darbellay F, editors, When Children Draw Gods: A Multicultural and Interdisciplinary Approach to Children's Representations of Supernatural Agents. Springer Science and Business Media B.V. 2023. p. 285-321. (New Approaches to the Scientific Study of Religion). Epub 2023 Jan 5. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-94429-2_11

Different Attachment Styles in Relation to Children’s Drawings of God: A Qualitative Exploration of the Use of Symbols in a Dutch Sample

Abstract

Publication series

Bibliographical note

Keywords

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