Review of Religious Research

, Volume 60, Issue 1, pp 23–47 | Cite as

Transcendence Matters: Do the Ways Family Members Experience God Meaningfully Relate to Family Life?

  • Hilary Dalton
  • David C. Dollahite
  • Loren D. Marks
Original Paper
First Online:
Received:
Accepted:

Abstract

As more Americans continue to move away from an institutional approach to religion and spirituality to a more personal approach, it is important to explore the ways that personal perspectives about God influence various aspects of life including family life. This study explored how participants viewed and experienced God as an authority figure (Directive Transcendence), as a close confidant (Intimate Transcendence), or as both (Authoritative Transcendence). In-depth interviews with 198 religious families from across America were analyzed using a team-based qualitative approach. These analyses revealed that participants experienced God as both an authority figure and as a close confidant. Both types of experiences are associated with family relationships in different ways. Concepts relating to ideas of authority, parenting styles, and attachment theory are used to help understand familial impacts from how one experiences God.

Keywords

God Family Religion Attachment Authority 
This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

References

  1. Alghafli, Z., T. Hatch, and L. Marks. 2014. Religion and relationships in Muslim families. Religions 5: 814–833.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  2. Babbie, E. 2004. The practice of social research, 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.Google Scholar
  3. Baumrind, D. 1975. The contributions of the family to the development of competence in children. Schizophrenia Bulletin 1(14): 12–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  4. Bengston, V.L., N.M. Putney, and S. Harris. 2013. Families and faith. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  5. Bornstein, M.H., D.L. Putnick, J.E. Lansford, S.M. Al-Hassan, and D. Baachini. 2017. ‘Mixed blessings’: Parental religiousness, parenting, and child adjustment in global perspective. Journal of Child Psychology and Psychiatry 58(8): 880–892.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  6. Burr, W.R., L.D. Marks, and R.D. Day. 2012. Sacred matters: Religion and spirituality in families. New York: Routledge.Google Scholar
  7. Cooper, C.L., and S. Lewis. 1995. Working together: Men and women in organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 16: 29–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  8. Daly, K. 2008. Qualitative methods for family studies and human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  9. Damon, W., and A. Colby. 2013. Why a true account of human development requires exemplar research. In Exemplar methods and research: Strategies for investigation. New directions for child and adolescent development, eds. Matsuba, M.K., P.E. King, and K.C. Bronk, 142, 13–25. San Francisco, CA: Wiley Periodicals, Inc.Google Scholar
  10. DeBono, K.G., and A. Kuschpel. 2014. Gender differences in religiosity: The role of self-monitoring. North American Journal of Psychology 16(2): 415–425.Google Scholar
  11. Denzin, N.K., and Y.S. Lincoln (eds.). 1994. Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
  12. Dollahite, D.C., L.D. Marks, and H. Dalton. in press. Why religion helps and harms families: A conceptual model of a system of dualities at the nexus of faith and family life. Journal of Family Theory & Review.Google Scholar
  13. Ellison, C.G., and J. Lee. 2010. Spiritual struggles and psychological distress: Is there a dark side of religion? Social Indicators Research 98(3): 501–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  14. Emery, R.E., E.M. Hetherington, and L.F. Dilalla. 1984. Divorce, children, and social policy. In Child development research and social policy, ed. H.W. Stevenson and A.E. Seigel, 189–266. Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
  15. Exline, J.J. 2002. Stumbling blocks on the religious road: Fractured relationships, nagging vices, and the inner struggle to believe. Psychological Inquiry 13(3): 182–189.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  16. Froese, P., and C. Bader. 2010. America’s four Gods. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
  17. Gall, T.L., V. Basque, M. Damasceno-Scott, and G. Vardy. 2007. Spirituality and the current adjustment of adult survivors of childhood sexual abuse. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 46(1): 101–117.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  18. Gallagher, E., A. Huth-Bocks, and T. Schmitt. 2015. The impact of mothers’ relationship quality and parenting on children’s peer relationships. Journal of Family Issues 36: 421–442.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  19. Ghorpade, J., J.R. Lackritz, and G. Singh. 2006. Intrinsic religious orientation among minorities in the United States. International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 16(1): 51–62.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  20. Goodenough, U. 2001. Vertical and horizontal transcendence. Zygon 36: 21–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  21. Goodman, M.A., and D.C. Dollahite. 2006. How religious couples perceive the influence of god in their marriage. Review of Religious Research 48: 141–155.Google Scholar
  22. Granqvist, P. 1998. Religiousness and perceived childhood attachment. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37(2): 350–367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  23. Granqvist, P., and L.A. Kirkpatrick. 2013. Religion, spirituality, and attachment. In APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality: (vol 1). Context, theory, and research, ed. K.I. Pargament, 139–155. Washington, DC: APA.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  24. Granqvist, P., M. Mikulincer, and P.R. Shaver. 2010. Religion as attachment: Normative processes and individual differences. Personality and Social Psychology Review 14: 49–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  25. Hertel, B.R., and M.J. Donahue. 1995. Parental influences on God images among children. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 34(2): 186–199.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  26. Kim-Spoon, J., G.S. Longo, and M.E. McCullough. 2012. Parent-adolescent relationships quality as a moderator for the influence of parents’ religiousness on adolescents’ religiousness and adjustment. Journal of Youth and Adolescence 41: 1576–1587.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  27. Knabb, J.J., and M.Y. Emerson. 2013. “I will be your God and you will be my people”: Attachment theory and the grand narrative of scripture. Pastoral Psychology 62: 827–841.  https://doi.org/10.1007/s11089-012-0500-x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  28. Konieczny, M.E. 2013. The spirit’s tether. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  29. Mahoney, A. 2010. Religion in families, 1999–2009: A relational spirituality framework. Journal of Marriage and Family 72: 805–827.  https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00732.x.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  30. Mahoney, A. 2013. The spirituality of us: Relational spirituality in the context of family relationships. In APA handbook of psychology, religion, and spirituality, vol. I, ed. K.I. Pargament, J.J. Exline and J. Jones, 365–389. Washington, DC: APA.Google Scholar
  31. Mahoney, A., K.I. Pargament, A. Murray-Swank, and N. Murray-Swank. 2003. Religion and the sanctification of family relationships. Review of Religious Research 44: 220–236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  32. Marks, L.D. 2015. A pragmatic, step-by-step guide for qualitative methods: Capturing the disaster and long-term recovery stories of Katrina and Rita. Current Psychology 34: 494–505.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  33. Marks, L.D., and D.C. Dollahite. 2017. Religion and families. New York: Taylor & Francis.Google Scholar
  34. Miner, M., M. Dowson, and K. Malone. 2014. Attachment to God, psychological need satisfaction, and psychological well-being among Christians. Journal of Psychology & Theology 42(4): 326–342.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  35. Nguyen, T.T., and M. Zuckerman. 2016. The links of God images to women’s religiosity and coping with depression: A socialization explanation of gender difference in religiosity. Psychology of Religion and Spirituality 8(4): 309–317.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  36. Omer, H., S.G. Steinmetz, T. Carthy, and A. Von Schlippe. 2013. The anchoring function: Parental authority and the parent-child bond. Family Process 52: 193–206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  37. Pargament, K.I., and A. Mahoney. 2005. Sacred matters: Sanctification as a vital topic for the psychology of religion. The International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 15(3): 179–198.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  38. Perry, S.L. 2016. Perceived spousal religiosity and marital quality across racial and ethnic groups. Family Relations 65(2): 327–341.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
  39. Selvam, S.G. 2014. Influence of family on how youth relate to God. In Youth and family in today’s India, ed. S. Fernando and J. Pudumai Doss, 6–80. Chennai: Don Bosco.Google Scholar
  40. Seymour, J., G. Dix, and T. Eardley. 1995. Joint accounts: Methodology and practice in research interviews with couples. New York: Social Policy Research Unity, University of York.Google Scholar
  41. Shichida, T., D.C. Dollahite, and J.S. Carroll. 2015. How the perception of god as a transcendent moral authority influences marital connection among American Christians. Journal of Psychology and Christianity 34: 40–52.Google Scholar
  42. Silk, M., and A. Walsh. 2006. Religion by region: Religion and public life in the United States. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: AltaMira.Google Scholar

Copyright information

© Religious Research Association, Inc. 2017

Authors and Affiliations

  1. 1.Applied Family Science Program at KSUKansas State UniversityManhattanUSA
  2. 2.School of Family LifeBrigham Young UniversityProvoUSA

Personalised recommendations