Parental Bonding and Religiosity in Young Adulthood

Abstract

85 male and 122 female college students completed the Parental Bonding Instrument, provided written descriptions of both parents, and rated themselves on two religiosity questions. The descriptions were assessed for level of acceptance of parental imperfections using the scoring criteria from the De-illusionment subscale of the Thematic Patterning Scale of Object Representations. Participants scoring low in maternal De-illusionment as well as high in maternal Care and Overprotection tended to perceive God as an omnipotent protector and provider. There were no significant effects for any of the paternal bonding variables. Results suggest that religiosity in young adulthood may arise out of variations in maternal bonding.