Revista de Asistenţ\ Social\, anul XVIII, nr. 3/2019, pp.

107‑114
www.swreview.ro

Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction

Aurel Bahnaru*
Remus Runcan**
Patricia Runcan***

Abstract. Marital satisfaction is the key to maintaining strong marriages and to ensure
individual and couple wellbeing, and one way to increase marital satisfaction is to educate
people religiously. Religiosity is also effective in preparing couples for marriage and a
defensible clinician’s intervention in counselling couples having problems in their
marriage aiming at preventing or alleviating marital distress and divorce because it can
influence all types of marriage, no matter the partners’ religion, race, or generation, and
three of the four stages of a family – early marriages, families with young children, and
empty nests. However, couple therapists and clergy counselling couples preparing for
marriage or having problems in their marriage should not take for granted that religious
devotion can shield couples from declines in satisfaction or divorce: they should rather
re‑consider with the couple the role religiosity plays in their relationship, if any, and
also the role of emotional intimacy.

Keywords: religion, religiosity, religious education, marital satisfaction

Introduction
This article presents the relationship between religiosity and marital satisfaction, as well as
the role of religious education in increasing marital satisfaction. Studying the relationship
between religiosity and marital satisfaction is important due to the social benefits of
maintaining strong marriages, to the centrality of the latter in individual and family wellbeing,
and because of the need to develop empirically defensible interventions for couples aiming
at preventing or alleviating marital distress and, eventually, divorce.

Definition of concepts
Religiosity is defined by English‑language dictionaries as ‘strong religious feeling or belief’
(Oxford Dictionaries, 2018).

* West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology, 4 V. Pârvan Blvd, Timişoara,
Romania. E‑mail: relubahnaru@yahoo.com.
** West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology, 4 V. Pârvan Blvd, Timişoara,
Romania. E‑mail: remus.runcan@e‑uvt.ro.
*** West University of Timişoara, Faculty of Sociology and Psychology, 4 V. Pârvan Blvd, Timişoara,
Romania. E‑mail: patricia.runcan@e‑uvt.ro.
108 Aurel Bahnaru, Remus Runcan, Patricia Runcan / Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction

Before 2000, ‘Marital dissatisfaction [reflected] an evaluation of the marriage in which

negative features [were] salient and positive features [were] relatively absent, and marital
satisfaction [reflected] an evaluation in which positive features [were] salient and negative
features [were] relatively absent’ (Bradbury, Fincham, Beach, 2000). Later on, marital
satisfaction was defined rather as ‘a mental state that reflects the perceived benefits and
costs of marriage to a particular person’ (Baumeister, Vohs, 2007).

Literature review
Religiosity has been studied from the perspective of life satisfaction (Tran et al., 2015;
Homaei et al., 2016), of the prevention, resolution and overcoming of marital conflict
(Lambert, Dollahite, 2006), of optimism (Homaei et al., 2016), of self‑esteem (Homaei et
al., 2016). Typical measures for religiosity are religious affiliation, religious attendance,
religious belief, religious commitment, religious devoutness, and religious participation.
Marital satisfaction studies started in the 1990s and focused on newlywed couples
(Sullivan, 2001; Haseley, 2006), graduate students (Sokolski, 1995), African‑American
couples (Fincham, Ajayi, Beach, 2011), African‑American Muslims (Abdullah, 2017),
Ghanaian married people (Offei, 2015), Iranian couples (Seddighi et al., 2014), Kenyan
Christian marriages (Webbo, Kihara, Karume, 2016; Webbo, Kihara, Karume, 2017), Korean
American couples (Chung, 2013), Korean Christian couples (Cho, 2014), Nigerian academic
staff (Oginyi, Ofoke, Francis, 2015), Nigerian non‑academic staff (Mbam, Oginyi, Onyishi,
2015), Nigerian married couples (Eze, Mba, 2018) etc. Researchers focused on couple
similarity (Gaunt, 2006), finances (Archuleta et al., 2011), gender role ideology (Offei,
2015), nature and determinants of marital satisfaction (Bradbury, Fincham, Beach, 2000)
etc.
They have also studied marital adjustment (Sokolski, 1995; Larson, 1989), marital
commitment (Larson, 1989), marital conflict (Lambert, Dollahite, 2006), marital functioning
(Banford, 2009; Fowler, 2014), marital quality (Bradbury, Fincham, Beach, 2000; Day et
al., 2009; Brooks, 2014), marital relationship (Ashdown, Hackathorn, Clark, 2011), marital
stability (Larson, 1989).
The relationship between religiosity and marital/relationship satisfaction has been the
topic of researchers for a long time (Larson, 1989; Wong, 2009; Dresser, 2011; Nihayah,
Adriani, Wahyuni, 2012; Sabey, 2012; Fard, Shahabi, Zardkhaneh, 2013; Behnammoghadam
et al., 2014; Cho, 2014; Seddighi et al., 2014; Jafari et al., 2015; Mbam, Oginyi, Onyishi,
2015; Oginyi, Ofoke, Francis, 2015; Homaei et al., 2016; Abdullah, 2017; Ghodrati,
Yazdanpanahi, Akbarxadeh, 2017; Webbo, Kihara, Karume, 2017). However, there are also
authors, like Larson (1989), who claim that ‘Emotional intimacy [is] the most powerful
predictor of marital satisfaction’.

Problem statement
Empirical findings support the idea that couples who attend church more frequently are
happier, are less likely to perpetrate family violence, are less likely to be divorced, have
higher marital satisfaction, and have more stable marriages (Sullivan, 2001), no matter the
age at marriage. However, other empirical findings show quite the opposite.
 Revista de Asistenţ\ Social\, nr. 3/2019 109

1. Research questions
What types of marriage may religiosity influence?
What stages in marriage may religiosity influence?

2. Purpose of the study

The use of the propositions below will allow a more comprehensive and systematic understanding
of the way religiosity acts on marital relationships affecting couples’ satisfaction and stability.
This can help those who council couples with marital issues.

Research methods
The research method used in this study is content analysis of reference texts regarding the
relationship between religiosity and marital satisfaction in an attempt to find out what types
of marriage religiosity might influence and, if so, what stages in marriage religiosity might
influence.
We used the keywords above in our content analysis.

Findings
Religiosity
Religiosity is associated with attitudes toward divorce (religious couples ‘are more likely to
have more conservative divorce attitudes’), commitment (more religious couples are more
likely to have higher levels of marital commitment), and help‑seeking attitudes (religious
couples ‘are more likely to seek help in times of marital trouble’) (Sullivan, 2001).
In another order of ideas, ‘Religiosity has a positive impact on husbands and wives’
marital satisfaction for couples with less neurotic husbands’ (Sullivan, 2001).
Religiosity affects differentially various stages in marriage or different types of marriage
(Sullivan, 2001).
Religiosity helps predict marital satisfaction (Sokolski, 1995). Moreover, ‘various aspects
of marital functioning (e.g., conflict frequency, [marital satisfaction], and use of verbal
aggression) are predicted by joint religious activities (e.g., praying together) and by perceptions
of the sacred qualities of marriage’ (Bradbury, Fincham, Beach, 2000).
Partner incongruence in levels of religiosity is negatively correlated with marital satisfaction
(Sokolski, 1995).

Marital satisfaction
Marital satisfaction is impacted by personal processes (affective, physical, and verbal
intimacy, age, personal happiness, personal stress, religious attitude, self‑disclosure,
specific love styles), inter‑personal processes (affect, behavioural patterning, cognition,
communication, gender roles, marital role expectations, perception of the relationship,
physiology, relationship commitment, social support, violence, spousal support, status,
symmetry of marriage), micro‑contexts (children, constant evaluation, life stressors and
transitions, spouses’ backgrounds and characteristics), and macro‑contexts (acculturation,
110 Aurel Bahnaru, Remus Runcan, Patricia Runcan / Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction

economic factors, mate perception availability, racism, social networks, social support)
(Sokolski, 1995; Bradbury, Fincham, Beach, 2000).

Types of marriage influenced by religiosity

According to Strasser (2008), religiosity and marriage can be approached from three different
sociological perspectives – religion, race, and generation:
• Religion: religious heterogamy (Catholic‑No Religion, Catholic‑Protestant, Christian‑Muslim)
is positively associated with marital conflict and with children’s delinquent behaviour
(Petts, Knoester, 2007), divorce, domestic violence, fertility, and spousal conflict (Fowler,
2014), marital dissolution (Balkanlioglu, 2014), marital dissolution (Wright, Rosato,
O’Reilly, 2017); religious homogamy does not increase marital stability (Kraft, Neimann,
2009); Islam influences the decision to procreate (Srikanthan, Reid, 2008), age of first
marriage, attitudes, odds of extramarital sex, premarital sexual behaviour (Adamczyk,
Hayes, 2012), marital satisfaction (Seddighi et al., 2014; Jafari et al., 2015; Abdullah,
2017);
• Race: spirituality influences marital quality/satisfaction in African American couples
(Fincham, Ajayi, Beach, 2011), marital commitment in Korean American couples (Chung,
2013), marital satisfaction in Korean Christian couples living in South Korea (Cho, 2014),
marital conflict and marital satisfaction in Chinese couples (2014);
• Generation: religious belief is strong at intergenerational level (Adamczyk, Hayes, 2012).

Marriage stages influenced by religiosity

Numerous researchers have focused on the influence of religion on marital rate (Marks,
2005; Adamczyk, Hayes, 2012; Verona et al., 2015), on the type of union (Verona et al.,
2015), on spouse selection (Balkanlioglu, 2014), on spouse selection, on the decision to
marry and the time to marry (Fuller, Frost, Burr, 2015), on perception of and engagement
in marriage (Abdullah, 2017).
Hill, Rodgers (1964) distinguish four stages of a marriage – ‘early marriage, families
with young children, the launching of children out of the home, and the empty nest’:
• Early marriage: at this stage, religiosity influences ethical decision‑making, mental
health, and moral judgement in newly‑married couples (Haseley, 2006), commitment,
love, passion, relational satisfaction and romantic relationship (Wong, 2009), age at first
marriage (Adamczyk, Hayes, 2012); however, religiosity has a weak impact over the
first four years of marriage (Sullivan, 2001);
• Families with young children: religion influences the education, raising, schooling and
upbringing of children (Waite, Lehrer, 2003), fertility rate (Marks, 2005), fertility
behaviour (Heineck, 2006), children’s future opinions regarding faithfulness, marriage
and religion (du Toit, 2007), children’s well‑being (Petts, Knoester, 2007), the decision
to procreate and family size (Srikanthan, Reid, 2008), the odds of extramarital sex
(Adamczyk, Hayes, 2012), couples’ and their children’s perceptions of family, couples’
attitudes towards depression, financial difficulties, social cooperation, and communication,
couples’ attitude and behaviours in case of child’s death, decisions about career choice,
marriage, number of children, residency (Balkanlioglu, 2014), children’s well‑being,
children’s decisions, parental behaviour and parental supervision (Verona et al., 2015).
• Children leaving their parents’ home
 Revista de Asistenţ\ Social\, nr. 3/2019 111

• The empty nest: religious involvement has a protecting effect against disability among
the elderly (Waite, Lehrer, 2003), on life satisfaction (Tran et al., 2015), on enduring
marriages (Mullins, 2016).

No matter the marriage stage, religion has a positive influence on marital satisfaction
and marital stability (Larson, 1989), on economic well‑being, happiness, longevity, marital
harmony, mental health, and sex (Waite, Lehrer, 2003), on demographic behaviour, economic
behaviour, marital stability and well‑being (Lehrer, 2004), on marital satisfaction (Sullivan,
2001), on family life, marriage and personal achievement (Marks, 2005), ethical decision‑making,
mental health, and moral judgement (Haseley, 2006), commitment to permanence, marital
conflict (problem prevention, conflict resolution, and relationship reconciliation), relational
virtues, shared purpose, and willingness to forgive (Lambert, Dollahite, 2006), faith in
marriage success, marriage attitudes (du Toit, 2007), family behaviour, family life and family
structure (Petts, Knoester, 2007), marital quality, marital stability, men’s relationship behaviour
and partner’s religiosity (Wolfinger, Wilcox, 2008), sexual satisfaction (Ashdown, Hackathorn,
Clark, 2011), relationship satisfaction (Dresser, 2011), life stressors (Fincham, Ajayi, Beach,
2011), couple’s relationship (Rusu, Turliuc, 2011), marital satisfaction (Nihayah, Adriani,
Wahyuni, 2012), family life and family relationships (Sabey, 2012), marital problems (Balkanlioglu,
2014), decision‑making, marital quality, marital relationship, relationship infidelity, shared
perception of marriage (Brooks, 2014), marital satisfaction (Cho, 2014), sexual satisfaction
(During, 2014), relationship quality (Reynolds, Houlston, Coleman, 2014), marital satisfaction
(Jafari et al., 2015;Offei, 2015), intensification of family ties, moral guidelines, people’s
lives (Verona et al., 2015), life satisfaction and marital satisfaction (Homaei et al., 2016),
conduct, likelihood of marriage dissolution, marriage outcomes, moods, reality organisation
and evaluation, social bonds, type and frequency of arguments (Mullins, 2016), marital
dissolution (Wright, Rosato, O’Reilly, 2017), marital satisfaction (Sorokovski et al., 2017;
Tavakol et al., 2017).
However, religiosity is not necessary in civil marriage and divorce and it is potentially
dangerous particularly for women and children (Beresford, 2011). Likewise, another study
shows that religiosity is negatively related to sexual satisfaction, experiences, frequency, and
permissive sexual attitudes (Ashdown, Hackathorn, Clark, 2011).

Conclusion
This article appeals to those who work with couples preparing for marriage or having
problems in their marriage, as well as to clinicians counselling couples with marital issues.
They should bear in mind that religiosity may influence all types of marriage, no matter
their religion, race, or generation, and three of the four stages of a family – early marriages,
families with young children, and empty nests.
Couple therapists and clergy counselling couples preparing for marriage or having
problems in their marriage should not take for granted that religious devotion can shield
couples from declines in satisfaction or divorce: they should rather re‑consider with the
couple the role religiosity plays in the relationship, if any.

Careful processing of the role of religiosity in the relationship, along with an understanding
of each partner and other important aspects of the relationship, may enhance the long‑term
effectiveness of marital interventions by clinicians and clergy. (Sullivan, 2001)
112 Aurel Bahnaru, Remus Runcan, Patricia Runcan / Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction

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