Clinging to the Hands of a Distant God

Attachment to God in Protestant American Theology

Bibliographic Data

ID20332001
AuthorsAlicia McLean (0000-0003-1144-3547, University of Central Oklahoma, corresponding author), Andrew J Marra (0009-0005-9684-8982, Southern Nazarene University), Paul C Jones (0000-0002-7754-6189), Ronald W Wright (0000-0002-8026-318X, Southern Nazarene University), Rachel Limke (University of Central Oklahoma)
Year2026
Volume54
Issue1
Pages22-39
Publication date2026-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Psychology and Theology (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0091-6471 • E-ISSN: 2328-1162
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/00916471251378186
OpenAlexW4414846477
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited50

This study introduces a newly developed scale assessing Protestant theological beliefs on a Theological Openness/Biblical Literalism dimension (Study 1) and examines its relationship with attachment to God (Study 2). To establish validity, we conducted exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses of the Protestant Theology Scale (PTS) and assessed its convergent and discriminant validity against established religious measures. We hypothesized that anxiety about abandonment by God would predict Biblical Literalism theological beliefs, but avoidance of intimacy with God would predict Theological Openness theological beliefs. Results supported these hypotheses, with avoidance toward God predicting Theological Openness beliefs, but anxiety about abandonment by God predicted Biblical Literalism theological beliefs. The study highlights the importance of theological constructs in attachment research and emphasizes the need for further scale validation

Abandonment (legal) · Fundamentalism · Openness to experience · Protestantism · Psychology of religion · Scale (ratio) · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Religion and Society Interactions · Religion, Spirituality, and Psychology