Spirituality and Marital Satisfaction in African American Couples

This study examined the relationship between spiritual experiences of African Americans and their marital quality. Couples (N = 487) completed measures of marital quality as well as a daily spiritual experience measure and an index of religiosity. Using the standard Quality Marriage Index, actor and partner effects were found for both spouses, and these remained when religiosity was controlled. Support was also obtained for two separate dimensions of marital quality comprising evaluations of positive and negative aspects of the relationship. Husbands' spirituality was strongly inversely related to own negative marital quality whereas actor effects for wives were almost equal in absolute magnitude for both dimensions. Taking overall marital quality into account, the spirituality-negative dimension association was significantly stronger for husbands than wives. These results are discussed in terms of behaviors that may enhance spiritual experiences and factors that may mediate their relationship to marital quality.