Attachment and Spiritual Maturity 41
parents, and religious training will be controlled for so that the unique variance of attachment can be considered.
Age
Wrightsman (1988) and Benson, Donahue, and Erickson (1993) predicted and
confirmed that spiritual maturity would increase linearly with age. This prediction was
based on developmental theory that suggests that taking the perspective of others,
integrating disparate belief and action factors, and seeking the common good are
cognitively advanced psychosocial perspectives requiring both cognitive readiness and experience (Wrightsman, 1988). It was also argued by Benson that the faith maturity
scale mean scores would vary as a function ofexperience (Benson et al. 1993). Therefore
the effects ofage on spiritual maturity need to be controlled.
Years a Christian
This study is concerned with the process of spiritual maturity. Therefore it was
important to know how long each participant has been a part of the process of spiritual
growth. The prediction that spiritual maturity increases linearly with age also suggests
that it would be important to determine how many years participants have been a
Christian (Wrightsman, 1988).
Religiosity ofParents One of the strongest predictors of religiousness is parental religiousness ofone's
parents (Kirkpatrick & Shaver, 1990). For this study, it was important to separate the
influence of Parental Religiosity from parental bonding relationship. Therefore the
possible effects of parental religiosity was controlled for.
Religious Training ofParticipants The sample consists only of seminary students. Seminary training is primarily
religious. Many students may also have come from homes that valued religious training
throughout childhood. One of the purposes of religious training may be for increased
spiritual maturity. It was also suggested by Benson that the faith maturity scale mean
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