Religiousness and marital quality : a test of the relational spirituality framework
Abstract
Several decades of research have established that religiousness and marital quality are positively correlated. The Relational Spirituality Framework, proposed by Annette Mahoney, is an attempt to organize this research by describing three distinct categories of religiousness (Personal, Dyadic, and Communal Religiousness) and predicting that they each have a direct effect on marital quality. Using data from the Portraits of American Life Study (PALS) (N = 935), I test the validity of the Relational Spirituality Framework as well as an alternative model in which Dyadic and Communal Religiousness are hypothesized to mediate the positive association of Personal Religiousness with marital quality. Support of mediation was found for Dyadic Religiousness. Personal Religiousness was found to suppress the association between Dyadic Religiousness and marital quality. These results offer limited support for the use of the Relational Spirituality Framework to guide future research when interactions among the components of the Framework are taken into account.
Degree
Ph. D.
Thesis Department
Rights
OpenAccess.
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