Sanctification of African American Couple Relationships and Relational Forgiveness

Abstract

Objective

Using participant responses from 525 different-sex married and cohabiting African American couples, we examined the dyadic association between relational sanctification and relational forgiveness.

Background

Religion has a central role in the lives of many African Americans because it traditionally has been a place of refuge against stressors that disproportionally impact African Americans. However, little is known about how African American couples utilize relational sanctification as a strength.

Method

Data were collected from African American couples between October 2019 and January 2020 as part of a larger study called the Strong African American Couples Project. Utilizing dyadic panels from Qualtrics, this project specifically targeted African American couples who were cohabiting (n = 233) or married (n = 292) thus, enabling us to analyze a multigroup actor–partner interdependence model.

Results

Significant actor effects were found between sanctification and individual as well as perceived partner forgiveness in married and cohabiting couple relationships. No significant partner effects were found.

Conclusion

These findings highlight the importance of recognizing various aspects of religiosity and spirituality within relationships, especially for African American couples with historically high rates of dissolution and self-rated religiosity.

Implications

As interventionalists work with religious and spiritual African American couples, they need to understand the role that sanctity may have within these partner relationships and the positive impact it can have on relational outcomes.