TY - JOUR
T1 - God Representation Types Are Associated With Levels of Personality Organization and Christian Religious Orthodox Culture
AU - Schaap-Jonker, Hanneke
AU - van der Velde, N.
AU - Eurelings-Bontekoe, Liesbeth
AU - Corveleyn, J.M.T.
PY - 2021/10
Y1 - 2021/10
N2 - This exploratory study shows that God representation types are associated with levels of personality organization. Among two Dutch samples of psychiatric patients (n = 136) and nonpatients (n = 161), we found associations between the psychotic, borderline, and neurotic personality organizations, and passive-unemotional, negative-authoritarian, and positive-authoritative God representation types, respectively. Both patients and nonpatients reported positive God representations, but only nonpatients and higher-level functioning patients reported an integrated God-object relation. For persons with personality pathology, the relationship with God can be a struggle and might have a defensive and/or compensating function. In addition to personality organization, Christian religious orthodox culture is a statistical predictor of God representations, but not of anger toward God. We offer suggestions for how psychotherapeutic work with God representations might differ for patients with different levels of personality organization
AB - This exploratory study shows that God representation types are associated with levels of personality organization. Among two Dutch samples of psychiatric patients (n = 136) and nonpatients (n = 161), we found associations between the psychotic, borderline, and neurotic personality organizations, and passive-unemotional, negative-authoritarian, and positive-authoritative God representation types, respectively. Both patients and nonpatients reported positive God representations, but only nonpatients and higher-level functioning patients reported an integrated God-object relation. For persons with personality pathology, the relationship with God can be a struggle and might have a defensive and/or compensating function. In addition to personality organization, Christian religious orthodox culture is a statistical predictor of God representations, but not of anger toward God. We offer suggestions for how psychotherapeutic work with God representations might differ for patients with different levels of personality organization
KW - god representations
KW - mental health
U2 - 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001363
DO - 10.1097/NMD.0000000000001363
M3 - Article
SN - 0022-3018
VL - 209
SP - 710
EP - 719
JO - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
JF - Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease
IS - 10
ER -