The Correlation of Private, Religious Devotional Practices and Marital Adjustment

Abstract

An attempt is made to determine the impact of private religious devotional practices on marriage adjustment or failure. A sample consisting of 208 couples selected from four major Christian religious categories of church groups was surveyed by the use of questionnaires issued in group meetings. Each category contained 104 individuals. Care was exercised in the sampling to secure a representative group from sectarians, conservative-evangelicals, liberal, and institutional authoritarian groups, in terms of age and length of marriage. The average age for the sample was 37 years old and the average length of marriage was 14 years. A broad representation from forty different congregations was secured. These congregations were located in various cities in the Los Angeles area whose boundaries are largely contiguous with one another. Most of the sample came from the lower middle, and upper classes. The variables of the study were religious affiliation, prayer. Bible reading, and marital adjustment. The findings suggest that affiliation with sects and evangelicals leads to a greater use of prayer and Bible reading in dealing with problems which in turn leads to better marital adjustment. Findings indicate a significant difference in marital adjustment between the categories defined in this study. The order of placement on a continuum of marital adjustment which was hypothesized was not supported in all cases. The order from highest to lowest for marital adjustment was: the sect, the evangelical, the Catholic, and the liberal according to the data of this study.