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Factors Influencing Changing Religions for Marriage  
and The Impact Of Such a Change. 

 
 

Charity Perry 
Department of Sociology 

California State University, Los Angeles 
 

 
This article highlights the notion that religiosity is based on marital 
relationships and also examines factors influencing changing 
religions for marriage and the impact of such a change. Findings 
based on previous submitted research premise this argument on religion 
and its affects on factors such as family, marital partners, and children. 
It is believed that religion has a major impact on many factors of family 
life and delves into the idea that religion is changed along with marital 
partners or with the affects of family life. It is also believed that many 
social problems could be attributed to choice of religion and or religious 
affiliation of marital partner. This paper also details the adverse affect 
on children’s perception of religion.  

 
 
 
 The purpose of this paper examined the 
factors that influence switching religions 
for marital reasons and the impact of 
such a change. In particular I examined 
birth cohort, religious practice, the 
economic concepts of household pro-
duction and human capital, religious 
diversity within families, children born 
into interfaith marriages, and whether or 
not it is necessary to change religions for 
marital happiness. 1Through this study it 
is expected that issues of religion and 

                                                 
1 Charity Perry is a graduate student at 
the Department of Sociology, California 
State University. She is currently 
working on her Master’s Thesis. Her 
paper was initially submitted to Soc. 445 
Sociology of Religion, taught by Dr. 
Rick Fraser in Winter 2007. 
 

culture contribute to critical issues of our 
time; one is increasingly likely to find 
young people marrying across the old 
religious line which entailed people of 
the same faith entering into marriage; 
children are being educated along with 
others from different religious back-
grounds; and we live in a society where 
people are willing to harmonize their 
marriages by changing religions. 

Americans switch religions to 
harmonize their marriage according to 
Musick and Wilson (1995).  In a study 
conducted by the aforementioned 
authors, respondents were asked whether 
or not they switched religion in 
connection to their marriage.  The 
respondents were asked to describe the 
processes of religious mobility that 
occur in general and were then asked to 
compare those reasons with their own 

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CHANGING RELIGIONS FOR MARRIAGE by Chairty Perry 
 

35

religious mobility. 
  Switching religion for marital 
purposes is a distinct kind of religious 
mobility that has been hidden by 
previous studies (Musick and Wilson 
1995).  This study was significant 
because there had been no research of its 
kind.  This particular study found that 
switching for marital reasons increases 
the impact of religious variables. Thus, 
conversion between religious groups is 
much greater than similar religious 
groups (Iannaccone 1990). Iannacone 
defined the groups as two or more 
people interacting with each other who 
share common goals that stem from 
common problems with a desire to 
resolve them; agree upon a set of norms 
they hope will help them achieve their 
common goals; combine certain norms 
into roles that expect persons within the 
group to fill and carry out in the interests 
of the group. 
  Through Musik and Wilson’s 
(1995) research we find that switching 
religions occurs when people are 
married to partners of other religious de-
nominations .The analysis of religious 
mobility, which is defined as the move-
ment out of a religious affiliation and 
movement into another religion, is only 
one way to analyze the overall impact of 
switching religions due to marital 
relationships where partners are af-
filiated with different religions. It is 
important to married individuals to do 
their best to harmonize their marriages 
by changing religions especially if one 
was not religious upon marrying the 
other religious individual. In har-
monizing one’s marriage, the obvious 
assumption would be that one partner 
would want to make their marriage 
stronger by toying with the idea of 
switching to their partner’s religion. 

 Sherkat (2004) states spousal 
influences are significant factors that 
motivate religious switching. Religious 
intermarriage has also been shown to 
influence a host of other outcomes: 
spousal conflict, domestic violence, di-
vorce, and fertility. The reciprocal 
connection between religion and family 
life makes the topic of religious 
intermarriage of particular importance in 
the sociology of religion. In Sherkat’s 
article, cohort differences were 
measured in pattern of interfaith mar-
riages; the author found that by 
determining the impact of birth cohorts, 
educational attainment, educational 
factors, geographic mobility, and re-
ligion of origin on the probability of 
religious intermarriage and the distance 
of intermarriage: the data would lead to 
answer why specific patterns of inter-
faith marriages are followed. 
 The birth cohorts were found to 
be too broad in showing patterns of 
interfaith marriage for people born 
before 1933. These figures are compared 
to individuals born in 1933 and later. 
Using the data to compare educational 
attainment, the comparison category was 
equal educational attainment.  
 For this study, a set of regional 
and residential classifications were used 
to analyze migration. The key in this 
classification system is the under-
standing that in the United States the 
religious market is quite distinctive in 
the South, and that opportunities for 
religious intermarriage are limited both 
in the homogeneous South and in rural 
communities. Stable residents of rural 
areas are hypothesized to be the least 
likely to intermarry and any inter-
marriage would likely be between 
members of similar religious groups.    
 Religious diversity within fam-
ilies has been shown to create a number 

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CHANGING RELIGIONS FOR MARRIAGE by Chairty Perry 
 

36

of difficulties for marriages such as 
leading to decreased rate of marital 
satisfaction, increased spousal conflict, 
higher rates of divorce, and increases in 
domestic violence. This research is 
important because it found that there are 
many different reasons for wanting or 
accepting religious switching in 
marriage (Sherkat 2004).  
 A study regarding religious 
practice, the economic concepts of 
household production, and human cap-
ital was used to develop a new model of 
religious participation. In this study, the 
model explains observed patterns in 
denominational mobility, religious inter-
marriage, conversion ages, the re-
lationship between church attendance 
and contributions, and the influence 
interfaith marriage has within the levels 
of religious participation.   
  Iannaccone (1990) suggested that 
empirical studies have found patterns in 
religious intermarriage very similar to 
those of intergenerational religious 
mobility. One of the patterns examined 
in this study was the tendency to marry 
within one’s denomination where pre-
dispositions were high. Intermarriage 
rates are higher in denominations with 
farfetched substitutes, and finally the 
intermarriage that does occur is usually 
between people from similar religions. 
 Researchers concluded from 
these studies that the economic concepts 
of household production and human 
capital generate a powerful model of 
religious participation. In each case of 
the model, the predictions received 
strong empirical support. Conversions 
are concentrated in the early stages of 
the life cycle, as people search for the 
best match between their religious skills 
and the context in which they produce 
commodities of religion, therefore, 
religious upbringing is looked upon as 

being the most prevalent source of 
religious human capital, and is a major 
determinant of religious belief and 
behavior; people tend to seek out 
partners whose religious human capital 
complements their own, and the 
productive efficiency inherent in shared 
faith marriages leads to higher levels of 
church attendance. 
 It is important to include a study 
concerning children of interfaith 
marriages. When children are born into 
an interfaith family, religious differences 
can become even more overwhelming. 
Couples must now decide whose religion 
is going to be best for the child. Will the 
child have a Bar/Bat Mitzvah? Will she 
have a Christian Confirmation? Will he 
be baptized? How will he be baptized? If 
adults feel torn by religion, it is easy to 
imagine how much more children can 
feel between two religions dividing 
them.  
 There are three studies that 
provide valuable insight into religious 
identification on the part of offsprings of 
interfaith marriages, but we for the sake 
of this paper we will only examine one 
of these studies. Salisbury (1990:129) 
notes that “children tend to follow the 
religion of the mother if she is Catholic, 
but not if she is a Protestant.” Thus, as 
suggested by the data, the mother’s 
influence was greater if she was a 
Catholic. 
  It was shown that all in all, from 
Salisbury’s (1990) study, there exists 
considerable continuity across gen-
erations relative to religious iden-
tification. Switching religion occurs, but 
it is part of the familial processes, 
therefore children born into an interfaith 
marriage tend to follow the religious 
practices of their mother if she is 
Catholic, and when children are old 
enough to decide what religion they are 

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CHANGING RELIGIONS FOR MARRIAGE by Chairty Perry 
 

37

more open to, it will be a familial 
process that helps these children decide 
what is best for them at that particular 
point in their lives.  
  For society as a whole, the 
importance of the familial process can be 
noted by helping children of interfaith 
marriage decide, as they age, what is 
best for them. It is a difficult process, as 
the child may worry about offending one 
or both parents when choosing the faith 
they will represent. How does marriage 
survival play out among interfaith 
marriage? A report was presented to 
discuss the results of carefully refined 
tests of the religious homogamy and 
marital stability generalization.  
 Burchinal and Chancellor (2004) 
studied comparisons first of marital 
survival rates among homogamous 
Catholic, homogamous Protestant, and 
Catholic-Protestant marriages. Second, 
refinements in classifications were made 
among the Protestant marriages to 
permit comparisons of marital survival 
rates among selected types of denom-
inationally homogamous Protestant and 
mixed marriages. Third, comparisons 
were presented for marital survival rates 
between homogamous Catholic mar-
riages and selected types of denom-
inationally homogamous Protestant 
marriages. Fourth, marital survival rate 
differences were determined for selected 
types of marriages involving Catholics 
and persons who claim affiliation with 
certain Protestant denominations. 
 This study displayed that marital 
survival rates were considerably greater 
among the mixed unspecified Protestant 
marriages than among the homogamous 
unspecified Protestant marriages. 
Throughout comparisons in variations of 
marriage the clash of religious values 
and beliefs less frequently led to divorce 
in the interreligious marriages than did 

circumstances associated with the lack 
of affiliation with a church. 

Relatively few studies focus on 
the process of relationships among 
married interfaith couples; although the 
number is increasing. The trend in 
interfaith marriages may likely continue, 
as a nationwide study reported: less than 
half of the young adults surveyed 
“believed that it is not important to find 
a spouse who shares their own religion” 
(Whitehead and Popenoe 2001: 6).  
 Drawing on the research that 
interfaith marriages may be at a higher 
than average risk for divorce than same-
faith couples, we may draw the inference 
that conflict is present in these marriages 
and that couples’ communication 
processes may also be strained. Re-
ligious orientation (intrinsic vs. ex-
trinsic) may influence the extent to 
which interfaith partners form social 
networks and, report satisfaction with 
support provided from these networks. 
 Extrinsics, who need to practice 
their faith in public or as part of a group 
may have a greater need for a religious 
social network as well as be more 
dependent on the communication from 
this particular network. In contrast, 
intrinsics prefer to practice their faith 
individually and may not be strongly 
dependent on a religious social network 
or social support from a religious social 
network.  
 According to Hughes and 
Dickson (2005), extrinsic religious 
orientation is inversely related to 
reported marital satisfaction while in-
trinsic religious orientation is directly 
related to marital satisfaction. Therefore, 
interfaith marriage partners need not 
share the same religious denomination; 
they may only need common religious 
orientation to be happy. Moreover, 
spouses communicate with each other 

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CHANGING RELIGIONS FOR MARRIAGE by Chairty Perry 
 

38

during times of relational conflict, and in 
other intervals of the marriage, which is 
likely the cause for marital happiness 
opposed to religious orientation.   
 Having the same religious and 
spiritual beliefs are criteria for many 
people when they are seeking a marriage 
partner. Many people feel strongly that 
the person they are going to marry 
should be of the same religion, have the 
same traditions and customs, and 
intensity of belief as they do. For these 
people, this is an integral part of their 
idea of marriage. On the other hand there 
are those who marry someone who is 
“outside” their religion. Many times they 
must overcome family opposition to be 
with the one they love. Sometimes if one 
partner feels so deeply about his or her 
religion, their future spouse will convert. 
This converting only works if the partner 
is not coerced into changing their 
religion or is not strongly held by the 
tenets of his or her own faith.  
     Changing religion for a partner, 
against one’s will, especially if one’s 
religion has always been a very im-
portant factor in life, never works. There 
are many aspects to a marriage. Religion 
is only one of them, but a very important 
one at that. A person’s re-ligious or 
spiritual beliefs make one part of your 
lover’s persona.  

Does religion matter in today’s 
marriages? Is it necessary for one to 
convert for the viability of one’s 
marriage?  Researchers Booth, Johnson, 
Branaman, and Sica (1995) studied 
changes in religiosity and marital qual-
ity. An assessment from a national 
sample of married persons studied the 
extent to which changes in religious 
involvement influence marital quality 
and the extent to which changes in 
marital quality affect religiosity.  

     Research on this topic has assumed 
that a change in religious involvement 
alters marital quality rather than the 
reverse. Marital difficulties or other 
difficulties are believed to lead couples 
to increase their religious involvement. 
Many religions emphasize to families 
that regardless of distress, they must 
remain intact and individuals whose 
marriages are troubled may view in-
creased involvement as a way to 
strengthen the relationship. In Booth et 
al. (1995)  study, five features of re-
ligious life are examined: (a) learning 
about the divine other through reading 
religious materials such as the Bible, (b) 
interacting with a divine other through 
prayer, (c) attending services, (d) par-
ticipating in religious social events, and 
(e) existential certainty (religious in-
fluence). These 5 marital scales were 
assumed to be indicators of marital 
quality. 
  The research found strong 
evidence that an increase in religiosity 
has very little effect on marital quality. 
Second, evidence was found that marital 
qualities sometimes alter religious 
activities. Third, gender has little role in 
explaining the relation between changes 
in re-ligiosity and marital quality. In 
other words, little support is found for 
the idea that an increase in religious 
activity improves marital relations. 
Increase in religiosity slightly decreased 
the prob-ability of considering divorce, 
they neither enhance marital happiness 
or interaction nor decrease conflict and 
problems that are commonly thought to 
cause divorce (Booth et al. 1995). 
  In conclusion, for many 
Americans, tolerance toward individuals 
marrying across religious lines has 
increased. More and more couples from 
every religion are taking the plunge into 
interfaith marriage and the raising of 

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CHANGING RELIGIONS FOR MARRIAGE by Chairty Perry 
 

CALIFORNIA SOCIOLOGY JOURNAL, 2008, VOL. 1 (November: 34-39) 
 

39

interfaith children. One crucial issue of 
our time is how are we to live together in 
a world which is becoming increasingly 
aware of its religious diversity, notably 
more so since 9/11? In many of these 
situations, issues of religion and culture 
are contributing factors. We also live in 
a world where one is increasingly likely 
to find young people marrying across the 
old religious line. Children are being 
educated alongside others who come 
from quite different religious back-
grounds and we live in a society where 
people are willing to harmonize their 
marriages by changing religions. 
 
REFERENCES  
 
Booth, A., R. Johnson, A. Branaman, 

and A. Sica. 1995. “Belief and 
Behavior: Does   Religion Matter 
in Today’s Marriage?” Journal of 
Marriage and the Family 57:661-
671. 

Burchinal, Lee B., and Chancellor, 
Loren E. 2004. “Survival Rates 
among Religiously Homogamous 
and Interreligious Marriages.” 
Social Forces 41:353-362. 

Hughes, Patrick, and Fran Dickson. 
2005. “Communication, Marital 
Satisfaction, and religious Ori-
entation in Interfaith Mar-riages.” 

The Journal of Family 
Communication 5: 25-41. 

Iannacone, Lawrence R. 1990. “Re-
ligious Practice: A Human Capital 
Approach.” Journal for the 
Scientific Study of Religion 29:297-
314. 

Musick, Mark, and John Wilson. 1995. 
“Religious Switching for Mar-riage 
Reasons.” Sociology of Religion 
56:257-270. 

Nelson, Hart M. 1990. “The Religious 
Identification of Children of 
Interfaith Marriage.” Review of 
Religious Research 32:122-134. 

Salisbury, W. Seward. 1970. “Religious 
Identity and Religious Behavior of 
the Sons and Daughters of 
Religious Intermarriage.” Review 
of Religious Research 11:128-135. 

Sherkat, Darren E. 2004. “Religious 
intermarriage in the United States: 
Trends, Patterns, and Pre-dictors.” 
Social Science Research 33: 606-
625. 

Whitehead, B.D. and D. Popenoe. 2001. 
The State of our Unions: The 
Social Health of Marriage in 
America (A Summary Report). 
Piscataway, N.J.: Rutgers Uni-
versity, The National Marriage 
Project. 

 
 


