Choosing between my Partner and My God: A Tentative Theory Exploring How Married Couples Navigate Relational-Religious Loyalties after Conversion

Abstract

This grounded theory investigated the influence of religious conversion on marital relationships by conducting 21 interviews. The central category was navigating relational-religious loyalties and described couples managing loyalty conflicts. Tension varied based on level of closeness and religious history pre-conversion. When conversion resulted in sharing the same faith, couples experienced alignment of relational–religious loyalties resulting in increased unity, shared view of God, and religious community. This unity helped deepen their marital relationship. Trustworthiness of data was increased through participant feedback, auditors, and integrating literature from religion, couples interaction, and attachment. Provisional hypotheses were developed and clinical implications were discussed.

Keywords:

• Religious conversion
• couple relationships
• attachment
• conflict management
• grounded theory