Religious Heterogamy, Marital Quality, and Paternal Engagement

• In Event: 2329 - Section on the Sociology of Religion Referred Roundtables (1 hour)
  In Refereed Roundtable 60min: 7. Religion, Marriage, and Family

Abstract

Using data from a nationally representative sample of married fathers of school-aged children, we examine the association between religious dissimilarity between parents and fathers’ involvement in children’s lives. We further examine whether the association between religious heterogamy and paternal engagement is explained by mediating variables such as marital quality, father-child religious discord, and maternal gatekeeping. Results show that greater religious heterogamy of parents is associated with less interaction and more relational distance between fathers and children. Results also suggest that fathers’ reports of marital happiness play an important role in mediating the association between religious heterogamy and paternal engagement. We conclude that religious fathers are more involved in their children’s lives insofar as their wives are equally religious and they are in happy marriages.

Authors

• Young-Il Kim, George Fox University

• Isaak Swan, George Fox University