Attachment and Spiritual Maturity 47
Religious Training ofParticipants.
Religious training of participants was defined by the use of three indicators
devised for this study. How frequently religious issues were discussed in their family
was rated on a four-point scale ranging from "never" to "very frequently". There were
four age range categories given from "6-12", "13-19", "20-26" to "27 and above" .
Secondly, the number of years they attended religious schools was reported. Thirdly,
how often they were involved in religious activities was measured on a five point scale
ranging from "never" to "very often". Religious activities were defined as Sunday school,
youth group activities, service to others, mission trips, Christian camp, and attending
seminars or conferences. The sum oftheir choices indicated the amount of religious training.
Methodological Limitations
The findings of this study must be read with the following limitations in mind. Sample
A convenience sample of seminary students was selected. This non-random
procedure limits the generalizability of these findings. It is not possible to estimate the
ability of the current sample to represent a larger population of seminary students.
Subjectivity
This study uses self-report measures exclusively. It relies on the personal
memory of childhood attachment and personal perception of adult attachment and
spiritual maturity. If actual behavior of parents were assessed, a different story might be
told. The same is true for students' actual behavior in regards to relationship with God
and others. Religious issues may be biased by seminary students giving socially desirable
reponses.
Gender Bias An important limitation ofthis research is the gender bias evident in the sample.
Only 77 out of 216 respondents were females representing only 36% of the sample.
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