Attachment to God and Humility: Indirect Effect and Conditional Effects Models

Abstract

The safe haven and secure base functions of attachment to God were examined in proposed indirect and conditional effects models. Support for the safe haven function stemmed from significant specific indirect effects between spiritual instability and dispositional humility through lowered differentiation of self, through increased insecure God attachment, and through both increased insecure attachment and lowered differentiation of self. A nonsignificant direct effect was also found. Partial support for the secure base function was observed as realistic acceptance moderated the association between religious exploration and dispositional humility. A significant negative association between exploration and humility was observed at lower levels of realistic acceptance, and the effect became nonsignificant and positive at highest levels of realistic acceptance. Implications for the conceptualization of humility are discussed, with particular attention to the framing of humility as a virtue of self-regulation.