Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

"I'Ll Stay Where You Want Me To Stay": How Latter-Day Saints Navigate Conflicting Social Values While Remaining Committed To Their Faith, Venice Jardine

Theses and Dissertations

While recent efforts in religious studies have focused on why many Americans seem to be leaving religion entirely, much less is understood about why many others choose to remain committed to their faith--especially when they hold many of the same social values, doubts, or divergent opinions that others cite for leaving. Within a Latter-day Saint context especially, very little research has been done to explore the experiences of those navigating the complexities of competing ethical affordances while remaining committed to their faith. Through ethnographic research in both Salt Lake County and New York City, I document the patterns and processes …

Understanding Gendered Hierarchy In Highly Religious Couples, Jolyn C. Schraedel

Theses and Dissertations

Although religious beliefs often associate with gendered hierarchy in sociological studies, very few studies have examined religion and gendered hierarchy within intimate relationships. This study used an exemplary sample to explore how religious, heterosexual married couples view and possibly practice gendered hierarchy. Interviews from 77 highly religious, highly satisfied couples provided insight into the following themes: (1) the potential harm of hierarchy, (2) misunderstanding hierarchy, (3) rejection of hierarchy, and (4) acceptance of hierarchy. For couples who expressed acceptance of hierarchy, further exploration revealed subthemes explaining how they conceptualized this practice. Subthemes included (4a) mutual submission, (4b) joint discussion, and …

Book Review: Katell Berthelot. Jews And Their Roman Rivals: Pagan Rome’S Challenge To Israel, Joseph Drew

Comparative Civilizations Review

This is a magisterial work, one which sets high the bar in the comparative study of civilizations. In it, Prof. Katell Berthelot covers the sweep of 600 years, from the second century, BCE, to the fourth century, CE, as she analyzes the extensive impact of Rome on Jewish ideas of law, religion, and peoplehood and, secondarily, the corresponding impact of their rivals, the Jews, on Roman society and history.

A Guide To Secondary Scholarship For Pure Land Buddhism Using Japanese Periodicals, Rebecca A. Stover

Journal of East Asian Libraries

This paper presents the process of locating Japanese language periodicals relating to Pure Land Buddhism and compiles a bibliography of open-access Japanese language sources for students in the process of Japanese Language acquisition. The paper attempts to scaffold the research process for students in the process of language acquisition and function as a guide to finding information.

"This Whole Journey Was Sacred": Latter-Day Saint Parents' Process In Coming To Accept A Transgender Child, Julia Campbell Bernards

Theses and Dissertations

This grounded theory methodology (GTM) study examines the process of members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in coming to accept a transgender or gender diverse (TGD) child. Data comes from interviews with 38 Latter-day Saint parents of TGD children and 130 Facebook posts from the same population. Data was analyzed using GTM in coding and theory construction. A model of Latter-day Saint parents' process in accepting a TGD child and the factors that impact that process is presented. The results indicate that coming to accept a TGD child tends to engage Latter-day Saint parents cognitively, emotionally, …

Authenticity Without Belief In Western Tibetan Buddhist Practice, Hannah Sharp-Wang

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is a study of Tibetan Buddhism as practiced by adult converts in Utah. Semiotic ideology is a thread throughout the paper that functions as an explanatory mechanism for describing the ontological variations between beginning and seasoned practitioners. I show examples of clashing semiotic ideologies that demonstrate differing assumptions in understanding of how the world operates. In Chapter 2, I explore the concept of interiority and the taken for granted assumptions of religiosity in the West. The tensions introduced in Chapter 2 are addressed in Chapter 3, which explores how practitioners resolve concerns about authenticity through reliance on their …

God, Me, And Thee: Associations Between Religion, Sexuality, And Marital Connection, Rebecca Walker Clarke

Theses and Dissertations

There is a well-established and positive association between religiosity and marital satisfaction. What is less clear is the effect of religiosity on marital sexual outcomes, with research findings that have run the gamut from negative to positive. Given that most religions teach that marriage is the divinely appointed context for a sexual relationship, religious persons who are married and in sexual relationships could have a different experience with sex than those who are not in a marital sexual relationship. Although the majority of the population in the United States is religious, sex in religious marriages has received scant research attention. …

The Double-Edged Sword: Unsuccessful Versus Successful Religious Parenting And Transmission, Avanlee Peterson

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Religious participation can have many positive effects on children and adolescents, including improved health, academic, and social capabilities. Therefore, many parents are concerned by the decrease in religiosity in American society today. In response to this common concern, this literature review discusses how various types of religious parenting can improve parent-child religious transmission while maintaining good parent-child relationships and promoting healthy child development. Much of the research on parenting styles suggests that religious parenting is most successful when using an authoritative style of parenting (high structure, high warmth, high autonomy) rather than an authoritarian style (high structure, low warmth, low …

Incorporating Religion Into Therapy To Better Treat Depression, Jacob Tubbs

Intuition: The BYU Undergraduate Journal of Psychology

Depression is one of the most prevalent mental disorders. Cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) is a common treatment option for depression. Often, CBT is only effective at masking the symptoms of depression without helping the person overcome depression altogether; thus, it may benefit CBT patients if alternative therapies are combined with CBT. Incorporating the patient’s religion into therapy is an alternative that may help many people. A large percentage of Americans are still religious or spiritual. This literature review discusses methods of building a personalized version of CBT that incorporates the patient’s religion, or religiously integrated CBT (RCBT), and the effects …

Political Power Of Iranian Hierocracies, János Jany

Comparative Civilizations Review

The aim of the paper is to demonstrate that the current Iranian regime is no novelty in Iranian history and political thinking, but has two antecedents: the rule of the Sasanians in late Antiquity (3rd–7th centuries) and that of the Safavids (16th–18th centuries) in modern times. After a brief outline of relevant historical events the paper scrutinizes the common features of these three regimes. The comparison includes the analyses of foreign policy, its scope, aim and direction, cultural policy and the relevance of political ideologies, socio-economic policy, religious policy, political structure and mechanisms of decision-making. The results of the comparison …

The Effect Of Fiction On Religious Studies Display Shelves In An Academic Library, Marissa Bischoff, Gerrit Van Dyk

Faculty Publications

The religious studies librarians at Brigham Young University (BYU) began a book display research project to examine the circulation rates of religious studies titles placed on display and to specifically evaluate the impact of religious fiction on that display in an academic library. Student employees were tasked with curating the displays over several years and maintaining a spreadsheet with the titles displayed and resulting checkout rates. Religious fiction (from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saint tradition) circulated over 80% the first three years, higher than the religious nonfiction on display and the same genre in the stacks. In …

Student Identity And Inclusion: A Model For Sense Of Belonging At Brigham Young University, Jose Rodriguez

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Campus racial climate in universities across the United States have been linked to several aspects attributed to student success. One aspect of campus climate is sense of belonging, which is correlated with retention, graduation, and student satisfaction. This study seeks to understand sense of belonging and the factors that impact it. In studies across the country, white students have been found to experience a greater sense of belonging than students of color. I seek to discover the factors associated with belonging and their effects. Based on a logistic regression model, students of color and white students at BYU do have …

How Receiving And Providing Relational Compensators And Religious Expectations Influence Religious Experiences, Elisabeth R. Kimball

Theses and Dissertations

Much research has been done on the concept of why people remain religious, formulating Rational Choice Theory. This involves the idea of compensators and religious expectations. In addition, other research and subsequent theories go into the duality of religious expectations and relational compensators—these relational compensators include love, support, forgiveness, and kindness from others. However, research has rarely explicitly explored what reportedly encourages individuals to stay in religious institutions despite religious demands. Through qualitative interviews with 198 highly religious families, this study analyzed the various expectations and demands individuals and families encounter, as well as the relational blessings they report receiving …

Uniting And Dividing Influences Of Religion On Parent–Child Relationships In Highly Religious Families, Heather Howell Kelley, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

Religion can have both helpful and harmful influences on relationships. The purpose of this study is to better understand how religion can have both a unifying and a dividing influence on parent–child relationships. Through the use of interviews with 198 highly religious families (N = 476 individuals), we address some of the complexity inherent in religion and examine the influence of three dimensions of religious experience (religious practices, religious beliefs, and religious community). Findings are supported with primary qualitative data. For the highly religious parents and children in this study, 8 times as many unifying accounts of religion than …

Exploring Love In Family Relationships, Joe Meshach Chelladurai

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to qualitatively investigate love in religious family relationships. Participants were from the American Families of Faith Project, a qualitative study on religion and family life with participants from 198 Christian, Jewish, and Muslim families (N = 478) across the United States. The primary research questions of present study were (a) what does love mean for families? (b) why do individuals and couples in families love? (c) how is love experienced? (d) what are the related processes of love? (e) how does religion influence love in religious families? and (f) what are the reported outcomes …

Religion And Suicide: The Consequences Of A Secular Society, Pearce Solomon, Sean Peterson

Sigma: Journal of Political and International Studies

No abstract provided.

Surviving Secular Society: How Religious Families Maintain Faith Through Community And Parenting Practices, Quinn Galbraith, Christina Riley, Alexandra Carlisle, Heather Kelley

Faculty Publications

In pluralistic society, religious families may struggle with adapting to non-religious culture. This can be concerning for religious parents who attempt to raise their children to be religious in a non-religious environment. This study draws upon qualitative interviews with 130 highly religious individuals in Ireland and the UK to analyze what perceived challenges religious families experience in secular society and what coping mechanisms they employ to counteract secular influences. Researchers identified three common challenges: outside pressure to conform, media misrepresentation, and immoral messages in media. They identified three potential coping mechanisms: controlling access to media, building religious community, and teaching …

Text-Map Analysis: An Introduction To The Method And An Examination Of Relationship Self-Regulation And Religion, Joe M. Chelladurai, David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks

Faculty Publications

The twofold purpose of this article is to (a) introduce text-map analysis and demonstrate its utility and (b) to examine systemic processes between relationship self-regulation and religion. In the first part, we propose a novel approach to qualitative data analysis termed mapping and analysis of processes and sequences. We then present procedural steps and diagrammatic conventions to chart sequences and connections between concepts and events sing flowchart diagrams we call text-maps. In the second part, using text-map analysis with a case study, we examine relationship self-regulation and religion in a Latter-day Saint couple. We draw upon three episodes …

Religion As A Source Of Tolerance And Intolerance: Exploring The Dichotomy, Quinn Galbraith, Alexandra Carlisle, Ben White

Faculty Publications

Previous research on tolerance and intolerance in religion has focused on individuals’ internal religious commitment and their relationship within religious groups. In exploring religion’s ability to generate both tolerance and intolerance, this qualitative study draws on data from interviews with 220 highly religious individuals living in the United Kingdom and Ireland in 2016 in order to suggest how religious individuals see themselves interacting with tolerance and intolerance in their daily lives. Many of our subjects identified themselves as tolerant people while viewing others as intolerant of their religious beliefs. An analysis of our findings and prior research suggests that religious …

Let Us Reason Together: Female Voices In Religious Deliberation, Rachel Finlayson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This thesis examines deliberation within ward councils of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. My findings suggest ward councils can fall short of the democratic ideals articulated by church leaders. This ideal is captured in Jane Mansbridge’s conception of unitary democracy, which emphasizes friendship, equality, and consensus in decision-making regarding common goals. Ward council members report feeling friendship and unity, but reserve authoritative executive power for the bishop alone. This hybrid dynamic creates potential challenges and tensions with the unitary ideal as participants seek to both express their unique perspectives and defer to one authority.

My interviews show …

Religion And Volunteering In Marital Relationships, Young-Il Kim, Jeffrey P. Dew

Faculty Publications

Married people are generally more religious and do volunteer work more frequently than unmarried people. However, little is known about which religious characteristics or domains predict volunteering behaviors among married couples. Using data from a U.S. national sample of heterosexual married couples, we examine which aspects of couples’ religiosity predicted husbands’ and wives’ reports of volunteering. Results from actor-partner interdependence models indicated that performing religious observances in the home was associated with wives’ reports of volunteering. Attending religious services regularly with one’s spouse was associated with higher levels of volunteering for both wives and husbands. Other domains of religiosity, such …

Uniting And Dividing Influences Of Religion In Marriage Among Highly Religious Couples, Heather H. Kelley, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite

Faculty Publications

Previous research has suggested that religion can be both helpful and harmful. However, much oof the research on religion and families has employed relatively simple, distal measures of religion and has focused on predominantly only one side of the dualistic nature of religion. Drawing upon interviews with 198 religious couples (N = 396 individuals), the purpose of this study was to better understand how religion can have both a unifying and a dividing influence on marital relationships. Three overarching themes, accompanied by supporting primary qualitative data from participants, are presented. These themes include (a) how religious beliefs unite and …

Familiarity With Homosexuality “Changes Hearts”: What Lay Members And Former Members Of The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints Think About Lgbp Issues, John Garbero

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Recently, the United States has become increasingly accepting of lesbian, gay, and bisexual individuals and their relationships. However, some conservative religions are hesitant or even unwilling to condone or to accept non-traditional lifestyles in their congregations. One such religious institution is the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (from here on known as the LDS Church, the Mormon Church, or the Church). A recent body of research has attempted to gain a general understanding of these religious groups and their teachings regrading homosexuality. While these contributions are significant, a more detailed understanding regarding the views of lay members of …

Constructing Meaning Through Connection: Religious Perspectives On The Purpose Of Life, Quinn Galbraith, Adam Callister, Heather Kelly

Faculty Publications

Given prior research, which establishes a connection between religiosity and an increased sense of meaning in life, this study draws on qualitative data from interviews with 172 religious individuals living in Ireland and the United Kingdom in order to analyze what religious individuals perceive as their purpose in life. Interviews were conducted in person, recorded, transcribed verbatim, and coded utilizing a team-based methodology. Researchers identified three main themes from the data related to the idea that the purpose of life is tied to relationships and connection: love and service toward others, family relationships, and connection with God. An analysis of …

The Ties That Bind: Is Faith A Global Force For Good Or Ill In The Family?, W. Bradford Wilcox, Laurie Derose, Jason S. Carroll

Faculty Publications

Does religion foster solidarity—or fuel conflict and inequality? Today’s headlines suggest the answer is “yes” to both. Yes, as Emile Durkheim taught us, religion can be and is a force for solidarity, but at the same time, as Max Weber taught us, religion can be and is also a force for conflict and inequality. In The Ties that Bind, we consider a more specific question: is religion a force for good or ill in families around the globe?

Struggles Experienced By Religious Minority Families In The United States, Loren D. Marks, David C. Dollahite, Kaity Pearl Young

Faculty Publications

More than a thousand empirical studies report positive correlations between religious involvement and various aspects oof psychological, relational, or physical health. Even so, there are also substantial costs, challenges, and negative aspects of religious involvement that warrant scholarly attention, including religion-related oppression and discrimination. The objective of this study was to provide an in-depth exploration and qualitative analysis of religion-related struggles experienced by religious minorities. A national sample of 198 diverse, religious families (N = 476 participants) were interviewed. Of the 198 families, 131 (66%) were from religious minority communities (i.e., Jewish, Muslim, or Christian minority faiths) and serve …

"The Family That Prays Together . . .": Relational Processes Associated With Regular Family Prayer, Joe M. Chelladurai, David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks

Faculty Publications

In the present article we explore how family prayer reportedly influenced family relationships. We conceptualized family prayer as a family ritual in religious families and used a qualitative methodology to interview a religiously, ethnically, and geographically diverse sample of 198 families (N = 476). Analysis of data revealed 7 related themes. Family prayer served important functions and influenced relationships in various ways including (a) as time of family togetherness and interaction; (b) as a space for social support; and (c) as a means for intergenerational transmission of religion. Further, family prayer (d) involved issues and concerns of individuals and …

Navigating Conflicts Between Religious And Professional Values: Psychologists' Experiences, Michael Ray Williams

Theses and Dissertations

The issue of psychotherapists' values in psychotherapy has become increasingly challenging as philosophers have questioned the viability of concepts such as objectivity and relativism. Historically, psychotherapists have relied on notions such as bracketing or suspending their own values to avoid the moral and ethical implications that such values might be active in psychotherapy. Acknowledging that psychotherapists' values are active in psychotherapy raises a host of important issues, including how to appropriately navigate value conflicts. This study explored the experience of psychotherapists as they navigate conflicts between their religious and professional values. Qualitative interviews with eight religiously committed psychologists were transcribed …

Uniting And Dividing Influences Of Religion On Familial Relationships, Heather Howell Kelley

Theses and Dissertations

Previous research suggests that religion can be both helpful and harmful. However, much of the research on religion and families has employed relatively simple, distal measures of religion and has predominantly focused on only one side of the dualistic nature of religion. Drawing upon interviews with 198 religious families (N = 476 individuals), the purpose of this study is to better understand how religion can have both a unifying and a dividing influence on familial relationships. Three overarching themes are presented, accompanied by supporting primary qualitative data from participants. These themes include: (1) How religious beliefs unite and divide families; …

Article 1- "God Will Glorify Your Marriage": Marital Satisfaction And Relational Spirituality In Religious Black Couples Article 2- "A Godly Man": A Qualitative Exploration Of The Influence Of Religion On Black Masculinity And Fatherhood, Travis James Moore

Theses and Dissertations

Research suggest that Black couples tend to marry later, with less frequency, have marriages that do not last as long, and are more prone to divorce than other racial categories. However, religion may play an important role to counteract the negative marriage trends among Black heterosexual couples. As a growing subfield of family psychology this study examines the influence of religion on marital sanctification and relational spirituality among 33 Black married couples (N = 66). In-depth qualitative interviews with Black married couples were analyzed to see how religion informed and shaped perceptions of marital sanctification as well as unique relational …