Spirituality and well-being are explored through frameworks of attachment and authenticity respectively. Spirituality was defined as an attachment to God experience, while conceptualizing well-being as the pursuit of authenticity and ability to stay true to one's self. 100 South African youths were recruited to participate in the study using the Attachment to God Inventory and Authenticity Scale to assess how dimensions of spirituality and well-being relate to each other. Results show significant correlations, proving that an insecure attachment to God experience can be a threat to maintaining psychological well-being, whereas having a secure relationship with God would naturally dispense a sense of authenticity and well-being.

1. Spirituality and
Wellbeing in South
African Youths
A presentation
by Victor Counted at the Spirituality, Culture, &
Wellbeing Conference, Sydney, NSW. 4 Oct. 16
Publishing title:
Between God and Self: Measuring the Attachment to God and Authenticity/Inauthenticity Tendencies of South African Christian
Youths

2. Defining spirituality
Maintaining and seeking attachment to God, who
is perceived as a relational partner and standing in
proxy as a substitute attachment figure

3. 1. Spirituality
Attachment to God also known as a
believer-God relationship. #AttachmentTheory
➔ Parental attachment
Starts from a parent-child bonding
experience.
➔ Internal working models
Internal wirings or representation of
others and self.
➔ Substitute attachment figure
God is perceived as a substitute
attachment figure - a safe haven, secure
base, target for closeness, response to
pain/loss of loved one

4. Defining well-being as
staying true to self
Authenticity theory explores well-being as staying true
to one’s feelings and thoughts. There are factors that
influence our authenticity/inauthenticity. I have argued
elsewhere (see Counted, 2016a) that an attachment
contagion and our experience of spirituality
(attachment to God) does impact a great deal on our
well-being (authenticity/inauthenticity).

5. 1. Authentic Wellbeing
Authenticity/inauthenticity also known as
staying true to self. #AuthenticityTheory
➔ Attachment contagion
Our relationship struggles with attachment
figures are the stumbling blocks to attaining
an authentic well-being.
➔ Self-regulation/splitting/congruity
Authentic wellbeing is achieved when we
achieve congruity or split between our
primary experience, symbolized awareness,
and outward behaviours (Counted, 2016a;
Wood et al. 2008).

6. Sample Demographics
Denominational affiliation
41% - Dutch Reformed Church
31% - Roman Catholic Church
28% - Pentecostal/Charismatic/Holiness Church
Ethnicity/Racial Background
57% - White African youths
28% - Coloured African youths
14% - Black African youths
1% - Indian African youths
Gender
52% - Females
48% - Males
Religious Background/Upbringing
87% - Christian natives/born to a Christian parent
13% - Non-Christian natives
100
YOUTHS

7. Reliability! Internal Consistency.
Alpha coefficient: Very positive at .806
Cronbach's alphas:
AGI subscales range from .79 to .80
- AGI-Anxiety ( .808); AGI-Avoidance (.796)
AS subscale scores vary from .72 to .80.
- AS-Authentic Living ( .804); AS-Self-alienation (.782);
- AS-accepting external influences (.729)
Tip
When alpha coefficient is
greater than .70 it suggests
that a scale is internally
consistent and reliable
Scores of the AGI
dimensions could vary
from .12 to .98, while the
scores of the AS measure
from .18 to .90.

8. Spirituality was assessed
using the Attachment to God
Inventory (AGI).
AGI-Anxiety - 48%
AGI-Avoidance - 35%
Tip
Dimensions:
1. AGI-Anxiety
2. AGI-Avoidance
Will help us see if the
youths were either
anxious or avoiding their
relationship with God.

9. Wellbeing was assessed
using the Authenticity Scale
(AS).
AS-Authentic Living - 24%
AS-Self-alienation - 11%
AS-Accepting external influences - 13%
Tip
Dimensions:
1. AS-Authentic Living
(authenticity)
2. AS-Self-alienation
(inauthenticity)
3. AS-accepting external
influences
(inauthenticity)

10. Correlation results
AGI-Anxiety and
AS-Self
Alienation
(r = .279, p<.01). 7%
commonality.
AGI-Avoidance
and AS-Self
Alienation
(r = .204, p<.05). 4% of
common variance.
AGI-Anxiety and
AS-Accepting
External
Influences
(r = .324, p<.01). 10% of
variance.

11. They may not attain
wellbeing because
they avoid God.
Young South Africans may likely avoid God as their
substitute attachment figure/relational partner when they
are disconnected from their true feelings or inauthentic.
Possible reasons why they are out of touch with
themselves:
- Rokach (1997) suggests loneliness or mental illness
as the main reason for this self-alienation
- Elsewhere (Counted 2016) I have linked their
self-alienation to their biological foundation and
internal working models
Avoiding God
causes self
alienation
(inauthenticity)
(r = .204, p<.05). 4% of
common variance.

12. They may conform to the
expectations of others
when they are anxious of
their relationship with
God
Young South Africans are more likely to
shape their identity based on external
comparisons especially when they are
experiencing insecurity, abandonment,
or anxiety in their relationship with God
God-anxiety leads
to accepting
external
influences
(inauthenticity)
(r = .324, p<.01). 10% of
variance.

13. They feel out of touch
with themselves when
they are anxious with
God
When South African youths feel
anxious about their relationship with
God they may feel like strangers to
themselves, unaware of their own
intrapsychic processes.
Feeling anxious
with God can also
cause self
alienation
(inauthenticity)
(r = .279, p<.01). 7%
commonality.

14. MY CONCLUSION...
The research results on the spirituality and
wellbeing of South African youths suggest
that…
“An insecure attachment experience with
God will often trigger inauthenticity and
can be a threat to maintaining
psychological well-being, whereas having
a secure relationship with God would
naturally dispense a sense of authenticity
and wellbeing. The real issue is, how do we
help young people of faith maintain a
secure relationship experience with God
through our preaching, mentoring
discipleship, and catechism?”
Victor Counted
Research Fellow, Stellenbosch University, South Africa
HDR, University of Western Sydney, Australia
V.Counted@westernsydney.edu.au

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