Research on attachment has exploded in the West. From the beginnings in the work of Bowlby and Ainsworth and Bowlby, hundreds of studies have been conducted on styles of attachment of the infant to its caregiver: secure, insecure, avoidant, or disorganized. Moreover, a strong connection has been made between secure attachment styles and healthy peer relationships, parenting approaches, adolescent self-confidence, adult romantic attachment and also adult spirituality. Those with secure attachment styles reported more positive relationships with a personal God. However, the attachment research has been severely criticized for its Western bias. Might attachment be viewed differently in more collective communities and societies? Consistent with the ideology of Western individualistic cultures, Ainsworth equated a secure attachment with the foundation for independence. However, there are reports from non-Western mothers who encourage dependence for the sake of socializing the emerging child into a more interdependent way of relating in a communal culture. This also raises the question whether a more communal style of attachment generates a more social version of religion.%有关依恋的研究在西方进展迅速。Bowlby和Ainsworth的工作引起了数以百计有关婴儿与其养育者的依恋类型，例如安全型、非安全型、回避型或混乱型等依恋模式研究。研究表明，安全依恋的类型与健康的同辈关系、养育风格、青少年的自信、浪漫依恋关系，以及成人的灵性等方面显著相关。安全型依恋者与个性化的神具有更积极的关系。然而，批评者认为依恋研究作为一种理念存在西方性偏倚。在更为集体化的群体和社会里，依恋是否表现不同？与以西方个人主义为主导的文化相一致，Ainsworth将安全型依恋等同于独立的基础。然而，从国际化视角来看，有报告显示，非西方的母亲鼓励其子女依赖是为了帮助孩子进入一个以相互依存（interdependence）为主导的社群文化。本文进而探索的问题是，社群型依恋是否与集体型的宗教有关。
展开▼
