Sex through a sacred lens: Longitudinal effects of sanctification of marital sexuality.

Abstract

Research attending to the role of religion and spirituality in enhancing sexuality in marriage is virtually absent. In response to this scarcity, this longitudinal study examined the sanctification of marital sexuality among newly married, heterosexual individuals (N = 67; married 4-18 months at Time 1). Greater sanctification of marital sexuality early in the marriage predicted more frequent sexual intercourse, sexual satisfaction, and marital satisfaction 1 year later for individual respondents, after controlling for initial levels of the dependent variable as well as age, frequencies of religious service attendance and prayer, and biblical conservatism. Greater sanctification continued to longitudinally predict greater sexual frequency and sexual satisfaction after also controlling for initial marital satisfaction. Participants with higher initial levels of sanctification of marital sexuality, relative to those with lower levels, experienced smaller declines in sexual satisfaction across 1 year. Findings add to empirical evidence that greater sanctification of close relationships facilitates relational well-being. (PsycINFO Database Record

Sanctification of marriage, religious coping and marital adjustment of Iranian couples

“…Since an initial study published in 1999 on the sanctification of marriage (Mahoney et al, 1999), over 17 studies have found that greater perceived sanctity of marriage or marital sexuality is tied to greater marital quality in cross-sectional, experimental, or longitudinal studies (e.g. DeMaris et al, 2010;Ellison et al, 2011;Hernandez-Kane & Mahoney, 2018;Leonhardt et al, 2020;Mahoney et al, in press). For instance, greater belief regarding the sanctity of one's marriage has been repeatedly tied to greater subjective marital satisfaction, forgiveness, and sacrifice (e.g.…”

Beliefs about sexuality and their associations with sexual passion

“…Although sexual growth and destiny beliefs and sexual sanctification are not explicitly about one's partner, these beliefs may indirectly influence them. For instance, individuals who endorse sexual sanctification are more likely to give more of their time and energy to their sexual relationships, possibly influencing their partner's sexual behavior (i.e., more sexual intercourse; Hernandez-Kane & Mahoney, 2018) and feelings of sexual satisfaction. Additionally, sexual growth beliefs suggest individuals put forth effort into maintaining their sexual relationships, possibly influencing their partner's experiences.…”

“…Just like the evidence suggesting the importance of sexual destiny and growth beliefs, the available literature indicates that sexual sanctification has significant implications for individual and relational outcomes. Among newly married, heterosexual couples, endorsing higher sexual sanctification beliefs predicted higher levels of sexual frequency, sexual and marital satisfaction, and a smaller decline in sexual satisfaction a year later compared to couples who did not endorse sexual sanctification beliefs (Hernandez‐Kane & Mahoney, 2018). Similar findings related to sexual satisfaction and sexual frequency have been observed in individuals in committed relationships (Leonhardt, Busby, Hanna‐Walker, & Leavitt, 2020) and college students (Murray‐Swank et al, 2005).…”

“…The third sexual belief we will evaluate is sexual sanctification, which is conceptualized as when an individual believes sexuality has sacred qualities and significance (Hernandez‐Kane & Mahoney, 2018), such as considering it holy or blessed (Murray‐Swank et al, 2005). The literature on sanctification suggests that the consequences of sanctification are tangible (see Pargament & Mahoney, 2005 for a review).…”

Exploring the Relationship between Spiritual Well-Being and Marital Satisfaction among Urban Malays in Malaysia

“…Among the aspects of marital satisfaction that have been studied and linked to the spiritual aspect are studies conducted by Aman, Abbas, Nurunnabi, and Bano (2019) and Kasapoğlu, and Yabanigül (2018). In addition, the aspect of spirituality was also studied to understand sexuality in marriage (Hernandez-Kane, & Mahoney, 2018), religiosity in marriage (Aman et al, 2019), the relationship between spiritual well-being and marital satisfaction (Rajabi, Alimoradi, & Moradi, 2017), conflict styles, attendance in religious programs and marital satisfaction (Stinson, Bermúdez, Gale, Lewis, Meyer, & Templeton, 2017), forgiveness, perception of forgiveness and marital satisfaction over a long period of time (Rose et al, 2018), religiosity, duration of marriage, sexual satisfaction and marital satisfaction (Lazar, 2017), religious commitment and marital satisfaction (Kamomoe, Pinto, & Selvam, 2017), role of religion in marital satisfaction (Davis et al, 2018), religious commitment, forgiveness and marital satisfaction (Agu & Nwankwo, 2019), influence of religious commitment, forgiveness, and marital satisfaction (Agu & Nwankwo, 2019), spiritual intelligence, moral intelligence, marital satisfaction and social networking (Kamalju, Narimani, Atadokht, & Abolghasami, 2017) and spiritual experience, marital happiness and satisfaction (Avarandeh et al, 2019).…”