The Benefits from Marriage and Religion in the United States: A Comparative Analysis

Abstract

America is a religious nation. The vast majority of Americans, when asked, profess a belief in God and affirm that religion is at least "fairly important" in their lives (Myers 2000: 285); about 60 percent of the population report membership in a religious organization and 45 percent state that they attend religious services at least monthly (Sherkat and Ellison 1999). Most American adults are currently married and almost all will marry at some time in their lives. About two-thirds of children live with their married (biological or adoptive) parents ( U.S. Census Bureau 2001). And marriage and a happy family life are almost universal goals for young adults.This commentary presents a socioeconomic and demographic view of the research literature on the benefits of marriage and religious participation in the United States. We compare religion and marriage as social institutions, both clearly on everyone's short list of "most important institutions." Marriage is an either-or status. But marital unions differ in a multitude of ways, including the characteristics, such as education, earnings, religion, and cultural background, of each of the partners, and the homogamy of their match on these characteristics. Similarly, religion has multiple aspects. These include religious affiliation, a particular set of theological beliefs and practices, and religiosity. Religiosity may be manifested in various levels and forms of religious participation (attendance at religious services within a congregation, family observance, individual devotion) and in terms of the salience of religion, that is, the importance of religious beliefs as a guide for one's life. Our focus here is on broad comparisons between marriage (being married versus not) and religiosity (having some involvement in religious activities versus not). We argue that both marriage and religiosity generally have far-reaching, positive effects; that they influence similar domains of life; and that there are important parallels in the pathways through which each achieves these outcomes. Where applicable, we refer to other dimensions of marriage and religion, including the quality of the marital relationship and the type of religious affiliation.We begin with a comparison of the effects associated with marriage and involvement in religious activities, based on a literature review, followed by a comparison of the major channels through which each operates. We then discuss qualifications and important exceptions to the general conclusion that marriage and religious involvement have beneficial effects. We conclude with a consideration of the intersection between marriage and religion and suggestions for future research. The effects of marriage and religious involvementMarriage and religion influence various dimensions of life, including physical health and longevity, mental health and happiness, economic well-being, and the raising of children. Recent research has also examined connections to sex and domestic violence. NIH Public Access

Widening the social context of disablement among married older adults: Considering the role of nonmarital relationships for loneliness

“…10 Indeed, positive marital quality and non-spousal support were positively correlated (r = 0.17, p < 0.01) and negative marital quality and non-spousal strain were positively correlated (r = 0.19, p < 0.01). The fact that non-spousal relations mirror the quality of the marital relationship, while the converse is not true, is perhaps not surprising given the centrality of marriage for organizing one's social world (Antonucci et al, 2009;Waite and Lehrer, 2003). In general, the associations between functional limitations, non-spousal social support, marital quality, and loneliness were robust to controls for demographic characteristics, socioeconomic status, and social integration (Model 4, Table 2).…”

“…We centered our examination on the wider social context of disablement among married persons because the spouse is the most significant source of social support in a married person's social network (Antonucci and Akiyama, 1987;Waite and Lehrer, 2003). Indeed, as our findings show, when one is physically-disabled, supportive non-spousal relationships do not compensate for a weak marital relationship.…”

“…Grounded in the stress process (Pearlin et al, 1981) and life course perspectives (George, 2003), and building on a prior study by Warner and KelleyMoore (2012), we investigated the role of non-spousal social support in the association between physical disability and loneliness, assessing if it had an effect independently of or in combination with marital quality. We focused our investigation on married older adults because marriage is one of the primary and enduring adult social relationships (Cooney and Dunne, 2001;Umberson et al, 1996;Waite and Lehrer, 2003).…”

“…As most older adults are married until very advanced ages (Cooney and Dunne, 2001), the spouse is the central figure in this web of interpersonal relations (Antonucci and Akiyama, 1987;Cooney and Dunne, 2001) connecting married persons to others and serving as one's most significant source of companionship and social support (Waite and Lehrer, 2003). The spouse plays an even more central role in social network of physically-disabled older adults.…”

“…The expectations of the marital institution are that one's spouse is primarily responsible for caregiving and is thus the central source of emotional and physical support when one confronts illness (Spitze and Ward, 2000;Waite and Lehrer, 2003). As such, nonmarital ties may be ill-suited to meeting the emotional and physical needs of disabled older adults, because friends, family, and, older adult themselves are operating under the expectation that one's spouse is the principal source of support.…”