Attachment and Spiritual Maturity 68
secure base from which to explore. The implications ofthis theory for proactive
interventions such as education for parenting and parenting roles would be significant.
Paternal Overprotection as a Predictor of Horizontal Faith Maturity
Paternal Overprotection accounted for slightly more of the variance in Horizontal
Faith Maturity than Secure Adult Attachment. This finding implies that Paternal Overprotection may influence serving others.
Parker (1979) claims that the variable paternal care clearly represents the care
dimension, and the variable paternal overprotection suggests a dimension of psychological
control over a child. A dynamic balance between the two measures needs to be achieved.
This study suggests that for the dimension of Horizontal Faith Maturity, having
experienced Paternal Overprotection may influence positive behaviors on behalfofothers.
What isn't clear is what emotion motivates that behavior? Could it be motivated by
anxiety as suggested by Strahan (1998) rather than security? If so, the relationship with
God would be dependent and needy rather than secure. Participants who are dependent
could also be motivated to serve others for God. Other influences may also explain this
dependency such as cultural, church, filial or a communal emphasis. These need further
exploration.
This result also implies that Attachment Theory needs to take a closer look at the
role of fathers in the bonding process and in the creation ofthe representational model
developed in infancy that is carried over into adult relationships with others and God. It
may be that affectionate constraint parenting may have positive effects on the outcomes
of Spiritual Maturity but are not motivated by love and intimacy resulting from spiritual
maturity. The balance between care and overprotection needs to be more clearly defined.
The lack of understanding ofthe balance between maternal and paternal care and
overprotection may be a result ofmany more years of exploration and study ofmaternal
care and less of paternal care. As more knowledge is gained ofpaternal care, parents can
be educated to attain the delicate balance (Parker et al. 1979) suggested so when children
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