This article adds to recent literature in the study of religion and marriage by examining older couples' use of religion as a cultural repertoire in enduring marriages. The study includes qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 43 married, Christian couples. Couples reported four predominant social contexts that gave sacred meanings to their marriage: prayer, worship services and sermons, first-rite rituals and communion. These social contexts magnify sacred meanings within religious cultural repertoires by enhancing older couples' perceptions of their marriages as sacred through formal and public recognition of their marriage longevity, lauding their marriage longevity as a blessing from God to be emulated, promoting religious meanings of familism and giving positive marriage outcomes sacred meanings. Negative effects of religion on marriage outcomes occurred among older couples when lived experiences of religion conflicted with their cultural expectations for enduring marriages. cultural theory in this study, the shared culture of these older, married couples is particularly important. Research indicates several potential links between religion and marriage outcomes. Higher levels of overall religiosity have been linked to greater marriage quality, marriage satisfaction and increased likelihood to remain married [25]. However, uncertain causality is a limitation of previous research because couples who have been married longer exhibit greater levels of religiosity [26,27], which confounds time-order effects in causality pathways. Nonetheless, overall higher levels of religiosity are related to adjustment to marriage, accommodating the needs and expectations of a spouse and adapting to changes resulting from being married [28]. Even among the unhappily married, increased religiosity has been linked to higher levels of marriage satisfaction [29]. Additionally, although religious participation does not appear to directly reduce barriers to marriage dissolution, a strong religious belief in marriage as a lifetime commitment has been linked to higher levels of marriage stability and quality [30,31].Establishing causality between religion and marriage outcomes is also complicated by the mediating effects of gender [32][33][34][35] and race [36][37][38]. Hansen [39] identified interaction effects between gender and religion in the measurement of marriage outcomes. According to his study, women develop gender-and religious-based values of compassion, self-sacrifice, obedience and humility, resulting in lower expectations of significant rewards from marriage while still being satisfied, regardless of their level of religiosity. There also appears to be an interaction effect on the relationship between religion and marriage outcomes related to dyadic religiosity, with higher levels of shared religious beliefs between spouses, shared religious convictions about the sanctity of marriage and shared religious beliefs concerning lifelong marriage being linked to better marriage outcomes, especially for wives [40].Bel...

The current study investigated gender differences in the personal hero choices, hero attributions, and characteristics attributed to "typical" male and female heroes of children living in the Midwestern United States (N=103; mean age=10 years). Questionnaires were completed in a school setting. The majority of girls chose heroes personally known to them; boys chose personal and public figures equally often. Most boys chose same gender heroes; girls' nominations were mixed. Gender differences were also seen in the characteristics children attributed to their own heroes and in their conceptions of "typical" male and female heroes. Children rated same-gender "typical" heroes more positively on many attributes, except for stereotypically masculine characteristics. Gender socialization, stereotypes, and in-group favoritism were used to explain these findings.

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This study examines the relationships between ethnicity-based variations in nonresident fathers' involvement and children's behavior. Using weighted least squares regression analysis, this study investigates nonresident father involvement and children's behavior based on a nationally representative sample of children in the National Survey of America's Families. After controlling for family context variables, nonresident father involvement through increased frequency of visits was positively associated with better child behavior. The payment of formal or informal child support by nonresident fathers was also associated with better behavior. This study suggests that the impact of nonresident father involvement on child behavior varies among African American, Anglo, and Latino families.