1. Religiosity and Romantic Beliefs
Ginia Moorehead | HDFS 312W| Dr.Seidel
Introduction
Results
Each person enters into a romantic relationship with pre-existing beliefs about what relationships should be like, what features make them satisfying and what rules should guide the behaviors for those in the relationship. This ideal, or schemata, makes up a person’s romantic beliefs.
Religiosity can have a significant influence on an individual’s romantic beliefs, especially in the context of sexual intercourse/engagement.
Previous research yields mixed results as to whether or not religiosity has a significant influence on sexual involvement and/or like behaviors (Jensen, Newell, & Holman, 1990).
Procedure
My findings agree with earlier research that suggests religiosity does not have a significant correlation with sexual intercourse. According to the Pearson Correlation conducted in SPSS, our items for religiosity and romantic belief were not significant (see Table 1).
One interesting finding from the data is that religiosity was significantly correlated with certain items from romantic beliefs. Religiosity was significantly correlated with the following items: “The person I love will make a perfect romantic partner; for example, he/she will be completely accepting, loving, and understanding (.009).” “If I were in love with someone, I would commit myself to him or her even if my parents and friends disapproved of the relationship (.047),”and, “If I love someone, I know I can make the relationship work, despite any obstacles (.054).”
Each participant completed an online, self-administered survey that took approximately 30 minutes.
In order to reach our goal of 114 participants, each classmate was instructed to complete the survey and solicit five other participants.
Each item included in this survey was taken from prior research.
Variables
Religiosity. Participants’ religiosity scores were measured based on eight items.(M= 13.27; SD = 3.56). Cronbach’s alpha was .788 (range= 8-22).
The first question asked the participant to identify their religious denomination, using a list that we provided, and also given the option of other choice or no preference.
Some of the other items include:
“What is your religious denomination?
“Do you believe in God or a higher power?”
“How spiritual/religious do you consider yourself to be?”
Discussion
Hypothesis
Contrary to my hypothesis that religiosity has a negative correlation with romantic beliefs, my results indicated that there was no significant correlation between religiosity and romantic beliefs (see Table 1 ).
My findings did not support prior studies that indicate there is a significant correlation between higher religiosity and sexual involvement and /or like behaviors.
Limitations
Some of the limitations to this study include:
-Our population sample (vast difference in age)
-Large percentage of HDFS students in our population
-Broad items for the romantic measure
The aim of this study is to identify whether or not there is a significant correlation between religiosity and romantic beliefs.
My hypothesis is that religiosity has a negative correlation with romantic beliefs.
More specifically, those individuals with higher religiosity will have a lower frequency of non-normative sexual behaviors (such as those listed in religious texts like premarital sex).
Variables
Method
Romantic Beliefs. Participants’ romantic beliefs scores were measured based on the 15-item Romantic Beliefs Scale (RBS) (Sprecher & Metts, 1989). Each participant responded to a 5-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). An example of this would be,” I need to know someone for a period of time before I fall in love with them.” (M=72.00; SD= 15.31). Cronbach’s alpha was (range= ).
Participants
There were a total of 114 male and female participants in this study, ranging from 18 to 71-years of age.
The participants consisted of both undergraduates students enrolled in a HDFS 312W: Empirical Inquiry class at Penn State York, and non-student volunteers.
The participants came from various religious backgrounds.
References
Jensen, L., Newell, R., & Holman, T. (1990). Sexual behavior, church attendance, and permissive beliefs among unmarried young men and women. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 29 (1),
LeJeune, B., Zimet, G., Azzouz, F., Fortenberry, J., & Aalsma, M. (2011). Religiosity and sexual involvement within adolescent romantic couples. Journal of Religion and Health, 52, doi: /s
McCree, D., Wingood, G., DiClemente, R., Davies, S., & Harrington, K. (2003). Religiosity and risky sexual behavior in African-American adolescent females. Journal of Adolescent Health, 33, 2-8. doi: /S X(02)
Sprecher, S. & Metts, S. (1999). Romantic beliefs: Their influence on relationships and patterns of change over time. The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 16, doi: /

2. Religiosity and Romantic Beliefs
Table 1
Correlation between Religiosity and Romantic Beliefs (n=85)
Ginia Moorehead
Statistical Evidence