Attachment, Evolution, and the Psychology of Religion

Lee A. Kirkpatrick, PhD, is Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies in Psychology at the College of William and Mary in Virginia. He has published numerous research articles and book chapters on topics related to adult attachment, the psychology of religion, and evolutionary psychology.

In this highly engaging, wide-ranging, and gracefully written book, Kirkpatrick moves from his own innovative work on attachment processes and religious phenomena to a much broader, multidimensional analysis of religion as an outcome of evolution. The book stands out from other writings on evolution and religion, which tend to have a narrow focus (on cognition or ritual or mystical experience, for example) and to see religion as a unitary adaptation. In contrast, Kirkpatrick argues persuasively that religion is best explained by a confluence of several different evolved mechanisms, each with its own primary, nonreligious function.--Phillip R. Shaver, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of California, DavisKirkpatrick has provided a dazzling and insightful analysis of the psychology of religion. Groundbreaking and gripping from start to finish, the book takes readers on a tour of religious phenomena, from the origins of belief to the nature of religious leaders and their followers. The result is the most incisive and scientifically sound analysis of religion I have seen, using principles drawn from modern evolutionary psychology. It’s a landmark publication, and sure to form the center of lively debate for years to come.--David M. Buss, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at AustinIn this brilliant work, Lee Kirkpatrick embeds the study of religion within an integrative evolutionary framework that draws extensively on attachment theory. In elaborating his comprehensive explanatory theory, Kirkpatrick boldly proposes a route for advancing the science of the psychology of religion. This book is essential reading for students and scholars of the psychology of religion and evolutionary psychology, particularly those interested in the psychological origins of religion.--Crystal L. Park, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of ConnecticutThis is a masterful example of scholarship aimed at integrating an attachment and evolutionary theoretical approach to the wide and far-reaching domain of the psychology of religion. Kirkpatrick is the world’s leading expert on attachment theory and religion, and in this book he has expanded the argument to encompass a broader perspective, one that places the psychology of religion squarely in the emerging field of evolutionary psychology and thus links it with the larger orbit of sciences. The writing is rich with research whose data argue in a compelling way that religious phenomena match the predictions of an attachment-evolutionary framework. Other approaches are acknowledged but are challenged with the question of why they work, if they do. Written with a high level of sophistication, the book is nonetheless extremely accessible. Kirkpatrick clearly loves his material. His logic is keen, his writing beautiful, his topic and message timeless.--Raymond F. Paloutzian, PhD, Department of Psychology, Westmont College-

• 1. IntroductionAn Ambitious AgendaScientificComprehensiveExplanatoryPsychology of ... ReligionA New DirectionAttachment TheoryEvolutionary PsychologyThe Plan of This Book2. Introduction to Attachment TheoryBackdropThe Attachment SystemOther Related SystemsThe Phenomenology of AttachmentIndividual Differences in Attachment in ChildhoodMultiple Attachment FiguresInternal Working Models and the Stability of Attachment PatternsAttachment in AdulthoodAttachment and Adult Romantic RelationshipsIndividual Differences in Adult Romantic AttachmentFactorial and Dimensional ModelsThe Formation and Development of Adult Love BondsAn Alternative Approach to Adult AttachmentAttachment and Evolutionary PsychologySummary and Conclusions3. God as an Attachment FigureReligion as RelationshipBut Is It Really an Attachment Relationship?Seeking and Maintaining Proximity to GodProximity in Belief and MythFacilitating Psychological ProximityPrayerOther Religious BehaviorsGod as a Haven of SafetyCrisis and DistressIllness and InjuryDeath and GrievingGod as a Secure BasePhenomenologyPsychological OutcomesResponses to Separation and LossSummary and Conclusions4. More on Religion as an Attachment Process: Some Extensions and LimitationsReligion and LoveWhat Kind of Love?: Romantic Attachment versus Attachment to GodGod as a Parental FigureIndividual Differences in Images of GodGod as a Benevolent CaregiverGod as Controlling and DemandingChildren's Beliefs about GodBeyond God: Extensions and LimitationsTo Generalize, or Not to Generalize?The Problem with ParsimonyOther Forms of Attachment (or Not) in ReligionRelationships with Other Supernatural BeingsRelationships with Religious LeadersRelationships with Fellow Worshipers and Other PeersRelationships with GroupsNontheistic ReligionsSummary and Conclusions5. Individual Differences in Attachment and Religion: The Correspondence HypothesisMental Models and the Correspondence HypothesisCorrespondence in Childhood and AdolescenceCorrespondence in AdulthoodCorrespondence Across CulturesInternal Working Models of Self and OthersContinuity from Childhood to AdulthoodThe Socialized-Correspondence HypothesisThe Two-Level Correspondence HypothesisSocialization as an Alternative ExplanationThe Inadequacy of Socialization as ExplanationThe Epidemiology of BeliefsIndividual Differences RevisitedSummary and Conclusions6. God as a Substitute Attachment Figure: The Compensation HypothesisIndividual Differences and Religious ConversionIndividual Differences in Childhood Attachment and ConversionSudden Religious ConversionOther Evidence for a Compensation ModelA Two-Process ModelIndividual Differences in Adult AttachmentContextual Factors in Religious ChangeSeparation and LossBereavementRelationship DissolutionUnavailability of Attachment FiguresPerceived Inadequacy of Human Attachment FiguresCultural FactorsSummary and Conclusions7. Attachment in Context: Introduction to Evolutionary PsychologyEvolutionary Psychology as a Paradigm or MetatheoryAdaptation and Natural SelectionAdaptationsSelfish Genes and Inclusive FitnessDomain-Specificity and the Mental-Organs ModelNature versus NurtureStone Age Minds in Modern EnvironmentsIndividual Differences in Evolutionary ContextStable Environmental DifferencesDirect Genetic EffectsFrequency-Dependent Adaptive StrategiesEarly Environmental CalibrationAn Example of Facultative Strategies: Human MatingAre Evolutionary Explanations Unfalsifiable?Some Illustrative Examples: Politics, Music, and SportsSummary and Conclusions8. Attachment Theory in Modern Evolutionary PerspectiveChildhood Attachment in Modern Evolutionary PerspectiveParental Caregiving and Parent-Offspring ConflictIndividual Differences in Childhood AttachmentAttachment and Reproductive StrategiesThe Belsky, Steinberg, and Draper ModelIndividual Differences in Adult AttachmentLove RevisitedLove or Attachment?Love as a Commitment DeviceImplications for the Theory of Attachment and ReligionCorrespondence and the RS HypothesisCompensation, Sudden Conversion, and the LM HypothesisSummary and Conclusions9. Religion: Adaptation or Evolutionary By-product?Is There a Unique Religious Instinct?UniversalityGeneticsNeurologyEthologyProblems with the Religion-as-Instinct ViewThe Problem of Identifying the Adaptive FunctionPsychological vs. Reproductive BenefitsGroup Selection vs. Selfish GenesCosts vs. BenefitsBegging QuestionsThe Problem of Identifying the DesignThe Problem of Establishing Special DesignTheoretical Conservatism and the Onus of ProofReligion as an Evolutionary By-product, Not an AdaptationAdaptations vs. Evolutionary By-productsReligion as an Evolutionary By-productAn Analogy: Games and SportsSummary and Conclusions10. Beyond Attachment: Religion and Other Evolved Psychological MechanismsPower, Status, and Intrasexual CompetitionSupernatural Beings as Power FiguresHuman Religious Leaders as Power FiguresKinshipSupernatural Beings and Religious Leaders as KinIngroup Members as KinReciprocal Altruism and Social ExchangeSupernatural Beings as Social-Exchange PartnersMutual Helping and Social SupportMorality and EthicsCoalitional PsychologyIn-Group Cooperation and MoralityOut-Group Discrimination and ConflictSupernatural Beings as Coalitional PartnersSummary and Conclusions11. The Cognitive Origins of Religious BeliefEvolved Mechanisms for Thinking about the Natural WorldNaive Physics and Psychological AnimismNaive Biology and Natural KindsNaive Psychology and Theory of MindThe Psychology of Complex Thinking: How the Mind WorksThe Cognitive Building Blocks of Religious BeliefAnimismPsychological EssentialismAnthropomorphismWhy Religious Beliefs SucceedEvolved Psychological Mechanisms: Calibration and BiasReligious Beliefs: Combining the Intuitive and the CounterintuitiveBeyond Religion: Other Forms of Thought and BeliefParapsychology and Other Supernatural BeliefsCommonsense Knowledge and Reasoning in Everyday LifeScienceSummary and Conclusions12. Beyond Genes: Learning, Rationality, and CultureNatural Selection, Genes, and Inclusive FitnessFrom Genes to MemesIndividual Learning, Reinforcement, and the Pleasure PrincipleComplex Reasoning and Higher-Order Cognitive ProcessesSocial Learning, Socialization, and Cultural TransmissionCooperation, Competition, and ManipulationMemes and Viruses of the MindScience RevisitedSummary and Conclusions13. Toward an Evolutionary Psychology of ReligionA Précis in (More or Less) ReverseEvolutionary Psychology and AdaptationFrom Genes to BehaviorReligion as an Evolutionary ByproductThe Psychological Origins of Religious BeliefThe Social Psychology of the SupernaturalConclusionAn Evolutionary Psychology of Religion for the FutureA Theoretically Rich Psychology of ...A Paradigmatic, Interdisciplinary ScienceA Coherent Model of Universality vs. Individual DifferencesBeyond Description to FunctionReligious Nature Carved at its JointsAvoiding Major Pitfalls in the Psychology of ReligionSummary and Conclusions