Spiritual DNA? BGSU researchers seek sacred building block to family life

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Spiritual DNA? BGSU researchers seek sacred building block to family

life

26 May 2005 Medical News Today

Marriage has been known as " holy " matrimony and childbirth as

a " blessed " event for as long as there have been weddings and newborn

babies. But is there something more to those spiritual terms?

Dr. Annette Mahoney, a Bowling Green State University psychology

professor, calls religion's role in marriage and parenting an aspect

of family life that's been overlooked by social scientists. Few

researchers have studied it, let alone shown how spirituality impacts

families over time.

Now, with $1.2 million in funding from the Templeton Foundation,

Mahoney and her Bowling Green colleagues Dr. Pargament, a

psychologist, and Dr. Alfred DeMaris, a sociologist, will embark on

what is believed to be the first in-depth, long-term study of the

part religion plays in couples' transition to parenthood.

" This is state-of-the-art social science research, " according to Dr.

Arthur Schwartz, vice president for research and programs in the

human sciences at the Templeton Foundation, based in suburban

Philadelphia.

The Foundation " is very interested in areas of spirituality and

religiosity that have yet to be examined or understood

scientifically, " Schwartz says, adding that sanctification of

pregnancy and parenthood fits that description. " We know so little

about this area of human life that we wanted to fund something that

was scientifically rigorous. "

The four-year project is designed to examine the impact of

sanctification of marriage, pregnancy and becoming a parent, and will

involve 160 couples in the Toledo, Ohio area.

Sanctification is defined as perceiving aspects of life to have

divine character and significance, or seeing life " through a sacred

lens " --the title of the project led by Mahoney.

Spiritual emotions such as gratitude, awe and humility are among the

implications of sanctification, as are investment in and commitment

to that particular aspect of life and access to other spiritually

based resources that help people cope effectively with stress.

" If pregnancy's a spiritually meaningful event both emotionally and

mentally, we think it's going to lead to better outcomes for the

parent and the child, " according to Mahoney.

" The more people view the emergence of family through a sacred lens,

the more they'll invest in the family, " she hypothesizes.

The Foundation's hope, Schwartz adds, is that, regardless of their

findings, Mahoney and Pargament, already " so well established in

their field, " will be regarded in future years as having " blazed a

new trail " in research of sanctification of parenthood.

Bowling Green State University

http://www.bgsu.edu