Perceived Spousal Religiosity and Marital Quality Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

• Published date: 01 April 2016
• Date: 01 April 2016
• Author: Samuel L. Perry
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12192

S L. P University of Oklahoma

Perceived Spousal Religiosity and Marital Quality

Across Racial and Ethnic Groups

The relationship between the perceived religios-

ity of one’s spouse and marital quality varies

across racial and ethnic groups (i.e., Asians,

Blacks, Hispanics, and non-Hispanic Whites)

in the United States. In this study, data were

drawn from a nationally representative sample

of married Americans (N=1,162). Although

perceived spousal religiosity predicted higher

marital quality across all racial and ethnic

groups, this effect was stronger for Asians,

Blacks, and Hispanics than for Whites. Com-

pared to Whites, the 3 racial and ethnic minority

groups experienced a larger boost in frequency

of expressive forms of love as perceived spousal

religiosity increased. This effect was also found

regarding marital satisfaction for Asians and

Blacks relative to Whites, but not for Hispanics.

Moreover, although racial and ethnic minorities

tended to report lower marital quality than

Whites at low levels of perceived spousal reli-

giosity, their marital quality tended to be higher

than Whites at high levels of perceived spousal

religiosity. Three-way interactions indicated

that these trends hold regardless of gender.

Marriage research consistently shows that spou-

sal religiosity is positively associated with

higher marital quality and stability (for reviews,

see Mahoney, 2010; Mahoney, Pargament, Tara-

Department of Sociology, Universityof Oklahoma, 780 Van

Vleet Oval, Kaufman Hall, Norman, OK 73019 (samperry@

ou.edu).

Key Words: ethnicity, marital quality, marriage, race, reli-

gion, religiosity.

keshwar, & Swank, 2008; Waite & Lehrer,

2003). Yet, with few exceptions (e.g., Brown,

Orbuch, & Bauermeister, 2008; Bulanda &

Brown, 2007; Ellison, Burdette, & Wilcox,

2010; Wilcox & Wolnger, 2007), the majority

of studies linking religious commitment to

marriage outcomes have ignored the potential

moderating inuence of race and ethnicity.

This is a notable oversight, for two reasons.

First, religious beliefs and practices often shape

social life differently across racial and eth-

nic groups as a consequence of differential

access to power and collective group exposure

to stigma, discrimination, and socioeconomic

deprivation (Taylor, Chatters, & Levin, 2004).

Because religion may function differently

according to racial and ethnic identity, it is

reasonable to suspect that the link between

religion and marriage outcomes may also vary

according to racial and ethnic identity. Second,

scholars have noted the paradoxical nding

that whereas religious commitment is posi-

tively associated with marital quality, racial

and ethnic minorities, who tend to be more

religious than non-Hispanic Whites (Espinosa,

Elizondo, & Miranda, 2003; Taylor et al., 2004),

consistently report lower marital quality rela-

tive to non-Hispanic Whites (Broman, 1993;

Bulanda & Brown, 2007; Cherlin, 1998; Raley

& Sweeney, 2009). This paradox also suggests

that the religion–marriage link may differ across

racial and ethnic groups.

Among the few studies that have examined

how race and ethnicity potentially moderate

the association between religion and marriage

outcomes the focus has either been limited

Family Relations 65 (April 2016): 327–341 327

DOI:10.1111/fare.12192