Sanctification of marriage, religious coping and marital adjustment of Iranian couples

Abstract

This study examined cross-sectional links of the theistic and non-theistic sanctification of marriage and positive and negative religious coping with marital adjustment for 316 married Muslims (women = 157, men = 159) from Iran. Perceiving marriage to be a manifestation of God (i.e. theistic sanctification) and reflective of sacred qualities (i.e. non-theistic sanctification) as well as engaging in positive and negative religious/spiritual (r/s) coping strategies each uniquely contributed variance to marital adjustment, after controlling for each other and global indicators of devotion to Islam (e.g. frequency of prayer, religious pilgrimages, fasting, reciting the Quran), and demographic variables (e.g. education level). Specifically, theistic sanctification (β = .40), non-theistic sanctification (β = .29), and positive r/s coping (β = .56) were uniquely tied to higher marital adjustment whereas negative r/s coping was uniquely tied to lower marital adjustment theistic (β =-15) in a hierarchical regression model with all primary variables and controls entered. These findings replicate and extend prior findings on the perceived sanctity of marriage with US samples of predominantly Christians to Muslims living in the Middle East, and offer novel cross-cultural insights into the possible roles that sanctification of marriage and r/s coping may play for marital well-being for non-distressed married Muslims.

Religious coping and young adult’s mental well-being during Covid-19: Testing a double moderated mediation model

“…Among followers of different religions, literature supports positive effects of positive religious coping on well-being and adjustment in general (e.g. Abu-Raiya & Pargament, 2015 ; Fallahchai et al, 2021 ; Fatima et al, 2018 ) and during the current pandemic in particular ( Thomas & Barbato, 2020 ). On the contrary, negative religious coping is associated with anxiety, depression, and mental health problems ( Francis et al, 2019 ).…”

Handbook of Positive Psychology, Religion, and Spirituality

“…Consistent with findings on unmarried college students , greater sanctification has been tied to lower infidelity thoughts and behaviors among married Iranians seeking counseling (Reich & Kalantar, 2018). Also among married Iranians, greater sanctification of marriage uniquely predicted both greater marital satisfaction (after controlling for religious/spiritual coping; Fallahchai et al, 2021) and more frequent prayer for one's partner (Reich & Kalantar, 2018). Furthermore, among Christian 707 Orthodox couples from Romania, higher sanctification has been associated with better marital satisfaction and with more supportive marital interactions (Rusu et al, 2015).…”

Positive Psychology and Religiousness/Spirituality in the Context of Couples and Families

“…Consistent with findings on unmarried college students (Fincham et al, 2010), greater sanctification has been tied to lower infidelity thoughts and behaviors among married Iranians seeking counseling (Reich & Kalantar, 2018). Also among married Iranians, greater sanctification of marriage uniquely predicted both greater marital satisfaction even after controlling for religious/spiritual coping (Fallahchai et al, 2021), and more frequent prayer for one's partner (Reich & Kalantar, 2018). Furthermore, among Christian Orthodox couples from Romania, higher sanctification has been associated with better marital satisfaction and with more supportive marital interactions (Rusu et al, 2015).…”

“…Two studies of married couples offer preliminary support of this possibility. Specifically, for married Iranians, higher positive religious/spiritual coping predicted higher marital satisfaction (after controlling for prayer for partner; Reich & Kalantar, 2018), sanctification of marriage, and global indices of R/S (frequency of prayer, religious pilgrimages, fasting, reciting the Quran; Fallahchai et al, 2021).…”