The majority of people in the United States report that religion and spirituality play an integral role in their romantic relationships. Thus far, research conducted on the role religion plays in marital relationships has primarily focused on the effects partners practicing different religions has on marital satisfaction and stability. There has been little research on how the marital relationship is affected by one partner converting to the religion practiced by his or her spouse. Due to the lack of extensive research in this area, this investigator proposed a preliminary study exploring the experiences of individuals who converted for marriage. Specifically, the goal was twofold: to explore adult attachment style patterns of converters and to examine their experiences of marital satisfaction following conversion. These aspects of converters’ experiences were investigated through two questionnaires and a qualitative semi-structured interview. The Experiences in Close Relationships-Revised (ECR-R) was used to measure attachment style patterns and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (DAS) was used to measure marital satisfaction.
In order to qualify for the study, participants must have chosen to convert to the religion practiced by his or her spouse before marriage or within the first year of marriage. Participants must have been married for a minimum of 2 years and still be married to the spouse for whom he or she converted. Conversion was defined as having made a conscious decision to join one’s spouse’s religious community and a subsequent adoption of beliefs related to this community. Nine participants, 3 male and 6 female, were interviewed for the current study. Two converted to Judaism, two to Catholicism, one to Mormonism, one to the Bah’ai faith, one to Islam, one to Protestantism, and one to Christianity. Nine participants were interviewed based on when saturation occurred, when no new information was being gained from interviews.

Results from the ECR-R indicated that people who convert often display secure attachment patterns. Whether the secure attachment patterns influence one’s decision to convert, or whether these patterns are resultant from a successful relationship following conversion was a point of discussion. Results from the DAS indicated that converters experienced high levels of marital satisfaction. This was supported by participants’ answers to interview questions, which revealed that most people who converted were happy with their decision and felt that their conversion had enhanced their marital relationship. Interviews were also analyzed using the Constant Comparative method, which involved seeking out recurring themes, phrases, and/or patterns in the data and comparing these across participants in order to identify common experiences, emotions, and thoughts among all who participated. Themes that emerged included common experiences of individuals prior to converting, such as lack of involvement in religion prior to meeting their spouse; common personality characteristics of converters, such as openness, trust, and intellectual curiosity; common individual experiences following conversion, including an increased emphasis on one’s value system and feeling a sense of community; and common relationship experiences following conversion, such as feeling emotionally and spiritually closer to one’s spouse.

Although there are limitations to the study, results from the current study indicate that religious conversion motivated by marriage has an impact on both individual and relationship experiences following conversion. In addition, the current study put forth that people who choose to convert have some religious history and personality characteristics in common. Characteristics that converters have in common include attachment style patterns and stage of identity formation when conversion is made.

You may reach Kim Loewen, Ph.D. here: kcloewen@gmail.com