Young children’s God concepts: Influences of attachment and religious socialization in a family and school context.

This contribution offers an overview of two studies testing two attachment theoretical correspondence hypotheses in the prediction of individual differences in young children's God concepts. The correspondence hypothesis supposes that people's view on God parallels their images of their early caregiver-child relationship. The revised correspondence hypothesis incorporates caregiver religiosity and socialization. In the first study support was found for the correspondence hypothesis in the school context examining 72 preschoolers. In the second study the revised correspondence hypothesis was partly confirmed among 198 kindergarteners. Children cognitively learn about a powerful and comforting, helping God in their homes and schools, even when all relationships with their caregivers are experienced as negative. However, in such a surrounding they do not emotionally learn about an intimate, personal bond with God. Copyright © The Religious Education Association.