2 - (SYM 41) Investigating the Influence of Religion and Spirituality in Romantic Relationships & Understanding Implications for Clinical Practice

The religious landscape of the United States has changed over the decades, but the majority of Americans are still religious, and most actually appear to have a broader sense of spirituality. More importantly, studies have consistently shown that religiosity and spirituality are linked to well-being (Bożek et al., 2020; AbdAleati et al., 2016). Although there are several studies that highlight the benefits that exist, different guidelines across religions address topics such as marriage, sex, and gender roles, so it is understandable how shared or diverging faiths and/or commitment levels across partners can have either beneficial or detrimental effects on outcomes such as relationship satisfaction, sexual fulfillment, and communication patterns. Indeed, research has shown that strength of husbands’ religious affiliation is predictive of wives’ satisfaction (Sauerheber et al., 2020), and constructive communication during religious disagreements is a strong predictor of marital satisfaction (Hughes & Dickson, 2005).

For this study, a nationally representative sample of 297 U.S. adults in romantic relationships was collected through Prolific. Participants responded to questions about their religious and spiritual beliefs, relationship quality, sexual desire and satisfaction, and communication patterns. Correlation analyses revealed higher levels of spirituality associated with greater relationship (r = .44**) and sexual (r = .40**) satisfaction, more positive communication (r = .30**), and higher levels of perceived partner support (r = .42**). Stronger religious commitment was only loosely associated with relationship (r = .14*) and sexual (r = .18**) satisfaction, was lightly tied to more demand-withdraw patterns of communication (r = .14*), and was most strongly connected with anti-feminist gender role beliefs in the household (r = .48**). 

Studies have shown that participation in and commitment to particular religions can reinforce sexist ideologies (Glick et al., 2002), which tend to be associated with more prejudicial attitudes in the home (Mikolajczak & Pietrzak, 2014). Although many people experience benefits from engaging with their religious and/or spiritual beliefs, it is also important to recognize there can also be detriments. Belief systems come to the forefront when dealing with adversity, conflict, and uncertainty (Walsh & Mahoney, 2019), all of which can come up in the context of relationships, making religious and spiritual beliefs particularly important to address in clinical practice with couples.