Recent research focuses on a unique compensatory response to close
others' perceived unreliability, namely, searching for alternative, nonhuman
sources of security perceived as more reliable. This response
may motivate religiosity, for example. While physical proximity to
supernatural entities is impossible, belief in an omnipotent god, prayer,
and the use of icons facilitate symbolic proximity to a benevolent and
reliable caregiver perceived to be more capable than close others of
providing security (Kirkpatrick, 2005). Indeed, individuals who are
dispositionally prone to insecure attachment are especially likely to
seek proximity to god as a source of security (Granqvist, 2006), and
show a greater propensity for sudden religious conversion and intense
religiosity (e.g., glossolalia; Kirkpatrick, 1997).