Christianity, Forgiveness, and Marital Satisfaction PDF Download

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Category : Forgiveness
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
For many years there has been a shortage of research in the field of psychology pertaining to aspects of religiosity and marital functioning. More specifically, over the last 20 years only 18% of articles on religion and the family came from psychology journals (Mahoney, Pargament, Tarakeshwar, & Swank, 2001). Yet, both sociological and psychological research consistently indicates that 85-97% of the United States population believes in God (Brawer, Handal, Fabricatore, Roberts, & Wajda-Johnston, 2002; Hoge, 1996; Holden, 2001; Spilka, Hood, Hunsberger, & Gorsuch, 2003). The limited amount of past research on religion and marriage has yielded mixed results; however, a majority of these studies utilized a unidimensional measurement of religion which significantly restricts the complexity of this construct. In addition, past research has unsuccessfully integrated other variables that may contribute to the relationship between Christian religiosity and marital functioning. In light of the aforementioned findings, it appears appropriate that the influence of Christian religiosity on marital functioning should be assessed multidimensionally with the inclusion of possible intervening variables.Seventy-three heterosexual married couples that were in their first marriage and married for fewer than six years completed a demographic questionnaire and the following self report questionnaires: Dimensions of Religious Commitment; Heartland Forgiveness Scale; and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. Using five steps, the individual answers to each of the questionnaires were computed to establish, separate variable scores of the couple's strength, magnitude, and proportion. A path analytic model employing a series of stepwise regressions was utilized to analyze this data. Findings related to the strength of the couple revealed that ritualistic behaviors and moral attitudes toward relationships with others positively predicted overall forgiveness and forgiveness of others, which in turn led to increased marital functioning. These same aspects of Christian religiosity were also predictive of increased marital functioning when utilizing the magnitude of the couple scores. On the other hand, more personal aspects of Christian religiosity (e.g., devotionalism, experientialism, and particularism) were negatively predictive of aspects of forgiveness and marital functioning. Results of the study confirm the necessity for the inclusion of aspects of religiosity, as well as forgiveness, within the context of marital therapy when the goal is to improve marital functioning.