Some contributions of a psychological approach to the study of the sacred

Marital Sanctification and Spiritual Intimacy Predicting Married Couples’ Observed Intimacy Skills across the Transition to Parenthood

“…The above empirical findings imply that perceiving marriage as embodying divine qualities and/or a deity's presence during pregnancy could be a resource that motivates first-time parents to give and receive more emotional support to each other across the TtP. This hypothesis is consistent with theory and research on sanctification across multiple domains of life, including family relationships (Mahoney et al 2013;Pargament and Mahoney 2005;Pargament et al 2017). More specifically, (Mahoney et al 2009(Mahoney et al , 2013 have proposed that greater perceived sanctification of one's marriage can lead to a greater commitment and investment of time and energy to the union, elicit strong emotions, and function as a powerful personal and social resource that spouses tap into during events that place stress on their bond.…”

“…Furthermore, greater sanctity of marriage has been repeatedly tied to greater subjective marital satisfaction, forgiveness, and sacrifice (e.g., Rusu et al 2015;Sabey et al 2014). Thus, the current study's findings echo theory and research on sanctification across multiple domains of life positing that viewing a union as sacred motivates people to invest effort to protect their bond, especially during times of stress (Mahoney 2013;Mahoney et al 2013;Pargament et al 2017).…”

Clients’ Faith Experiences as an Opportunity or a Challenge for Psychotherapy: A Qualitative Analysis of Clinical Records

“…For the client to reveal vulnerable experiences demands a great deal of trust and a relationship between the psychologist and the client such that the client feels safe (Jørgensen 2018). Furthermore, when something is significant in life, people treat it with special care and respect, and accordingly, perceptions of violations or loss of what is significant or perhaps "sacred" can elicit stronger emotional and behavioral reactions (Pargament et al 2017). When psychologists ask about faith and religiosity in psychotherapy, a spiritual or religious client might be alert to the psychologist's possible interpretation of their faith to protect what they hold as significant and sacred.…”

“…How to integrate and use a client's spirituality or religion in psychotherapy has evolved in theory and research has been done from different psychological perspectives (Pargament 2007;Aten et al 2012). From the general coping theory (Lazarus and Folkman 1984), Pargament developed an empirically based theoretical understanding of how people use what they hold as "sacred" in life to cope with distress (Pargament 1997(Pargament , 2007Pargament et al 2017). This dynamic theory of religious coping emphasized how religion and spirituality constitute different coping methods with different functions for the individual, including active, passive, and interactive strategies, as well as emotional or problem-focused approaches (Pargament et al 2013).…”

Sport, Spirituality, and Religion: New Intersections

“…They also have found that these experiences of the sacred cannot be fully explained by or reduced to psychological needs, or desires, or any other motivation. In his research, Pargament observed six implications for one's everyday life stemming from the discovery of the sacred (Pargament 2013a;Pargament et al 2017) and that the experience of discovering the sacred has at least three qualities: transcendence, ultimacy, and boundlessness (Pargament 2007). One of the implications of discovering the sacred is the experience of strong emotions that may be considered spiritual emotions (Pargament 2013a) when they occur conjointly with the other five implications and the three or more spiritual qualities.…”