Abstract
Using pooled data from the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG 2006–2010), we examine the effects of denominational affiliation, worship service attendance, and religious salience on remarriage timing. Survival analyses indicate that both men and women affiliated with conservative Protestant faith traditions are significantly more likely than their unaffiliated and Catholic counterparts to remarry at an accelerated pace following divorce. Results further show that, net of religious affiliation and socio-demographic characteristics, worship service attendance accelerates remarriage timing, whereas the effects of religious salience are weaker or unobserved. These results are largely consistent with prior research on denominational variations in the timing of first marriage and underscore the robust influence of religion on the institution of marriage.
Highlights
A pattern of accelerated recoupling is most evident among conservative Protestants as compared with Catholics and the unaffiliated for both women and men
Catholicism can be characterized by a pattern of delayed remarriage; that is, institutional policies such as required annulments that are designed to discourage divorce and prevent remarriage seem to have their intended effect
Remarriage timing is shorter for men affiliated with other faith traditions than the unaffiliated
Summary
The intersections between religion and family have received renewed attention during the past several decades, with scholars recognizing that religion influences virtually every facet of family life and intimate relationships, such as union formation, housework, household decision-making, child development, parenting, paternal involvement, marital quality, premarital sexual behavior, marital infidelity, and risk of divorce (e.g., Bartkowski 2001; Bartkowski and Ellison 2009; Bartkowski and Xu 2000; Bartkowski et al 2008; Burdette et al 2007, 2009; Ellison and Xu 2014; Mahoney 2010)(see Ellison and Xu 2014 for review). Scholars point to the pro-family character of Latter-day Saints and conservative Protestants in explaining their eagerness to marry young (Xu et al 2005; Uecker and Stokes 2008). As it turns out, religion influences married persons’ propensity to exit marriage through divorce (Call and Heaton 1997; Ellison and Xu 2014; Lehrer and Chiswick 1993; Vaaler et al 2009). Religion inhibits divorce; marriages marked by shared religious commitments are less likely to dissolve than are religiously heterogamous marriages (Ellison and Xu 2014)
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