Marital Satisfaction and Religiosity in the African-American Muslim Community

Abstract

The current study examined the relationship between religiosity, spirituality and marital satisfaction among Muslims who identified as African-American or Black to identify the best predictors of marital satisfaction. Religiosity was measured using modified versions of the subscales found in the Psychological Measure of Islam Religiousness (Raiya, 2008). Spirituality was measured using the Intrinsic Spirituality Scale (Hodge, 2003) and Marital Satisfaction was measured using a modified version of the Couples Satisfaction Index (Funk & Rogge, 2007). The study consisted of 194 participants, mainly from the east coast of the United States. Results of the study illustrate that religiosity and spirituality, as measured in this study, did not correlate with marital satisfaction. Results show strong correlations between the number of prior divorces, joint prayer with spouse and agreement on religion with marital satisfaction. Spirituality in Islam did not predict marital satisfaction better than religiosity. Marital satisfaction was predicted by the number of prior divorces – if someone was previously divorced a number of times, the chance of a future divorce was higher; joint prayer with spouse – if couples prayed more together, it indicated that they were more satisfied in their marriage; and agreement on religion – if spouses agreed with each other on religion, they enjoyed greater levels of marital satisfaction.