How Relationship-Enhancing Transcendent Religious Experiences during Adversity Can Encourage Relational Meaning, Depth, Healing, and Action

Kaity Pearl Young,David C. Dollahite,Alyssa Banford Witting,Loren D. Marks,Joe M. Chelladurai,Ashley B. LeBaron

doi:10.3390/rel11100519

Kaity Pearl Young, David C. Dollahite + Show 4 more

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https://doi.org/10.3390/rel11100519

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Abstract

Research on the relationship between religion, spirituality, and health suggests that religious involvement can help people deal with various kinds of adversity. Although there has been a great deal of work on the influence of religious involvement and religious and spiritual practices on physical, mental, and relational health, there exists a gap in the theoretical and empirical literature about the potential benefits of transcendent religious experiences on marriage and family relationships. We report some findings from a study of in-depth interviews with 198 religious American exemplar families from diverse religious, ethnic, and geographic backgrounds. The religious-ethnic make-up of the sample included: African American Christian (13%), Asian Christian (12%), Catholic and Orthodox Christian (11%), White Evangelical Christian (12%), White Mainline Christian (10%), Latter-day Saint (LDS, Mormon), (14%), Jewish (16%), and Muslim (12%). Systematic group coding resulted in the findings that, during times of adversity, transcendent religious experiences reportedly (a) provided relational meaning, (b) increased relational depth, (c) healed relational hurt, and (d) encouraged relational action. We suggest implications for theory, research, clinical practice, and pastoral work.

Highlights

We appreciate the editors at Religions inviting Dr Dollahite to submit an article for the FeaturePaper Program
We propose that (a) providing relational meaning is a way that transcendent religious experiences during adversity might shed light, that (b) healing relational hurt and increasing relational depth are ways in which transcendent experiences during adversity might transform personal and relational perspective, and that (c) encouraging relational action is a way in which transcendent experiences during adverse experiences might motivate and sustain positive change
We propose that the positive potential of relationship-enhancing transcendent religious experiences to sometimes transcend adversity—and possibly even trauma—has largely eluded social scientific study, in the area of family relationships

Summary

Introduction

We appreciate the editors at Religions inviting Dr Dollahite to submit an article for the FeaturePaper Program. We appreciate the editors at Religions inviting Dr Dollahite to submit an article for the Feature. Religions describes itself as an “international, interdisciplinary . Rather than a traditional discipline-based, empirical report, we have written an interdisciplinary article that explores a possibility—that religious experiences during adversity can help strengthen family relationships. In exploring this possibility, we draw theory and research from family studies, psychology, sociology, and religious studies. While we present qualitative data from our ongoing national research project, rather than providing only a narrow empirical study, we focus on ideas, concepts, and possibilities.

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