Attachment security and trust within dyadic, group, sociopolitical, and spiritual/religious relationships

Attachment theory has become one of the most influential theories in psychology, generating an explosion of empirical research and clinical applications. At the heart of the theory is a conception of security dynamics, a set of psychological processes involved in the search for social sources of safety and security in the context of threats and challenges, and the implications of felt security for emotional stability and personal growth. In this chapter, we focus on the role that security dynamics play in shaping a person's sense of trust while showing that trust is an integral part of felt security. We review evidence that feeling secure with respect to the support of close relationship partners, experts or leaders in particular domains (e.g., teachers, managers, therapists), social groups or organizations (e.g., teamwork, workplace), or supernatural figures (e.g., God) contributes to the development of trust in the benevolence, reliability, dependability, and credibility of these and other figures.