Keywords

religious involvement, marital relationships, family life

Abstract

Religion significantly influences many American marriages. Ninetyfive percent of married couples in the United States report a religious affiliation (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, & Swank, 2001). Not only is a religious affiliation almost universal, but around 60% of Americans report that religion is important or very important to them (McCullough, Larson, Hoyt, Koenig, & Thoresen, 2000). Over half of American married couples say they attend religious services at least monthly (Heaton & Pratt, 1990, p. 196). Even with a tendency to exaggerate religious participation, these statistics indicate that religious involvement is an important part of American marriage and family life (Christiano, 2000), so it seems logical that religious beliefs affect marital relationships. However, it is not universally accepted that religious people actually connect their religious beliefs to their marital relationships. One recent academic review suggested that connection between religious beliefs and practices “appear more heterogeneous [varied] and tenuous than family scholars have expected, with conservative religious beliefs not necessarily translating into conservative familial behavior” (Bulanda, 2011). However, some highly religious people do strongly connect their religious faith to their family life.

Original Publication Citation

The Influence of Faith on Marital Commitment, Goodman, M.A. (2014). In By Divine Design: Best Practices for Family Success and Happiness, Top, B. & Goodman, M.A. (Eds.), Salt Lake City: Religious Study Center/Deseret Book, 23-50.