Religious Heterogamy, Marital Relations, and Subjective Well-Being of Middle-Aged Women in a Christian African Setting

• In Event: 41069 - Religion, Health, and Well-Being

Abstract

Religious involvement, especially among women, is very high in Christian parts of sub-Saharan Africa. Religion is an important aspect of gendered social identity and positioning and is closely linked to other social dimensions of life, including marriage and family. Although marital religious homogamy is traditionally expected, marital unions are increasingly becoming heterogamous. In this study, we use data from a recent survey of a longitudinal panel conducted with middle-aged married Christian women in rural Mozambique to connect their marital religious affiliation concordance with their perceived quality of marital relationship, with their sense of decision-making autonomy and of the level of control over their lives, and with their self-assessed quality of life and overall life satisfaction. We compare women in homogamous marriages to those in heterogamous marriages, and among the latter, we also distinguish between those whose husbands belong to a different church and those whose husbands do not belong to any church. The preliminary results of the multivariable analyses produce instructive variations in the outcomes of interest between homogamously and heterogamously married women, but also between those married to men affiliated with a different church and those married to non-affiliated men. These results illustrate the complex socio-subjective meanings of religious belonging and distancing. The analyses will be further refined for the presentation by interconnecting these outcomes and by accounting for the women’s religious and marital trajectories using the earlier waves of this longitudinal panel.

Authors

• Victor Agadjanian, University of California - Los Angeles

• Xueqian Chen, The Ohio State University

• Sarah R. Hayford, The Ohio State University