Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

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

  • Original Paper
  • Published:
Review of Religious Research

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.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2016/08/24/why-americas-nones-left-religion-behind/.

  2. All names are pseudonyms.

References

  • Alghafli, Z., T. Hatch, and L. Marks. 2014. Religion and relationships in Muslim families. Religions 5: 814–833.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Babbie, E. 2004. The practice of social research, 10th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Baumrind, D. 1975. The contributions of the family to the development of competence in children. Schizophrenia Bulletin 1(14): 12–37.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bengston, V.L., N.M. Putney, and S. Harris. 2013. Families and faith. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burr, W.R., L.D. Marks, and R.D. Day. 2012. Sacred matters: Religion and spirituality in families. New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cooper, C.L., and S. Lewis. 1995. Working together: Men and women in organizations. Leadership & Organization Development Journal 16: 29–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Daly, K. 2008. Qualitative methods for family studies and human development. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

  • 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 

  • Denzin, N.K., and Y.S. Lincoln (eds.). 1994. Handbook of qualitative research. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Froese, P., and C. Bader. 2010. America’s four Gods. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Goodenough, U. 2001. Vertical and horizontal transcendence. Zygon 36: 21–31.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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 

  • Granqvist, P. 1998. Religiousness and perceived childhood attachment. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 37(2): 350–367.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Konieczny, M.E. 2013. The spirit’s tether. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Marks, L.D., and D.C. Dollahite. 2017. Religion and families. New York: Taylor & Francis.

    Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Perry, S.L. 2016. Perceived spousal religiosity and marital quality across racial and ethnic groups. Family Relations 65(2): 327–341.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • 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 

  • 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 

  • 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 

  • Silk, M., and A. Walsh. 2006. Religion by region: Religion and public life in the United States. Blue Ridge Summit, PA: AltaMira.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Applied Family Science Program at KSU, Kansas State University, 119 Justin Hall, Lovers Lane, Manhattan, KS, 66502, USA

    Hilary Dalton

  2. School of Family Life, Brigham Young University, 2092C JFSB, Provo, UT, 84602, USA

    David C. Dollahite & Loren D. Marks

Authors
  1. Hilary Dalton
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. David C. Dollahite
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  3. Loren D. Marks
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Hilary Dalton.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Dalton, H., Dollahite, D.C. & Marks, L.D. Transcendence Matters: Do the Ways Family Members Experience God Meaningfully Relate to Family Life?. Rev Relig Res 60, 23–47 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-017-0317-2

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13644-017-0317-2

Keywords

Search

Navigation