Religious Identity and Identity Diffusion in Romantic Relationships: Exploring Married Women in Inter-Religious Context of India

Abstract

Identity is the most widely studied concept in the field of psychology and sociology. The concept of identity has many variables contributing to its formation such as social, culture, religion etc. Religion plays important roles when it comes to determining the identity of the individual holistically. Since childhood an exposure to a particular religion helps the individual form their religious identity thus when the individual is introduced to a culture and practices of another religion they can experience confusion or diffusion. When women are married into another religion they are more likely to be exposed to the cultural and religious practices of their spousal family’s religion thus they can experience identity diffusion. James Marcia explained the concept of identity diffusion as a hallmark of lack of commitment, basically it is the confusion experienced by the individual within their religious identity when exposed to another religion. This study aims to understand the religious identity of women of inter-religious marriages in India. The study also aims at understanding whether the exposure of a new religious culture and practices has caused diffusion in their identity. It is an explorative qualitative research design which uses thematic analysis to study the responses of 6 females who have engaged into inter-religious marriage.