SUMMARY
The goal of this research was to assess age and gender differences on adolescents' image of God using standardized instruments and to assess variables for their power to predict God-image scores. The research was designed within a psychodynamic framework, more specifically, within the context of object relations theory. A distinction was made between God image and God concept using the definitions provided by Rizzuto. According to Rizzuto (1979), God image is a psychological working internal model that depicts the sort of person that the individual imagines God to be, whereas the God concept is an intellectual and mental-dictionary definition of the word “God.”
This article begins by briefly presenting theoretical concepts pertinent to this study and relevant research findings. The remainder of the article presents the research method and results. It concludes with a discussion of the results and the limitations of the study.