God-complexity and the Multiple God-Aspects Framework

RESEARCH IMPORTANCE AND METHODOLOGY Researchers have long acknowledged that people can hold multiple understandings of God simultaneously (e.g., Gibson, 2007; Rizzuto, 1979). However, there is currently no measure of God-representations that assesses their structural complexity. Our proposed project will fill this gap in the literature. We will apply the social cognitive constructs of self-complexity (Linville, 1987) and the Multiple Self-Aspects Framework (McConnell, 2011) to the study of God-representations in order to create and validate the measures of God-complexity and the Multiple God-Aspects Framework (MGF). We will address 3 Big Questions from the “Gods in Minds” funding competition: 4) Personality and Social Psychology, 9) Multilevel models of cognition and emotion, and 10) Measurement. This research will allow us to expand our understanding of God-representations and to determine the extent to which the complexity of these representations is related to important variables such as well-being, depression, and attitudes and emotions towards God. OUTPUTS 1) Empirical research comprised of 9 studies 2) At least 3 articles in high-impact peer-reviewed journals 3) Conference presentations and media outlets OUTCOMES 1) Fill a gap in our understanding of God representations using established research from the field of social-cognition 2) Establish a new measurement that researchers and practitioners can use to assess God–complexity in research and clinical interventions 3) Increase knowledge of God-complexity and the MGF within and outside of the academic community 4) Generate new hypotheses and research projects for the study of God-complexity and the MGF ENDURING IMPACTS The enduring impacts of this research include expanding the empirical basis for God-complexity and the MGF, transferring knowledge within academic circles, and providing the basis for practical applications (both in clinical practice and in religious communities).