Background

Many world religions explicitly and/or implicitly promote gender hierarchy and the patriarchal nature of gender roles is a nearly universal theme within these traditions. Notwithstanding the hierarchical patterns often apparent in religiously defined gender roles, complementarity in gender roles is also an essential characteristic of many religions.

Purpose

Religious teachings regarding gender roles may dualistically foster relational health or cause relational harm—depending on the particular teachings and, perhaps most saliently, depending on how religious teachings are applied and lived out within marriages and families. We aim to explore, through interviews with highly religious wives and husbands, the influences and meanings that wives' and husbands' religious beliefs and practices have in connection with their perspectives and lived experience of gender roles in the context of marriage and family life.

Methods

We conducted in-depth, qualitative interviews with 198 individuals using a racially and ethnically diverse sample consisting of Muslim, Christian, and Jewish families (N = 476 individuals). Questions regarding gender within relationships were not included on the interview questionnaire but gender-related issues spontaneously surfaced in many of the interviews. Participants’ comments involving gender were identified using NVivo 12 software and were then qualitatively analyzed using a team-based methodology (Marks in Current Psychol, 34(3): 494-505, 2015).

Results

Two themes addressing the nexus of gender and religion were identified: Theme 1: Sanctity and Complementary Gender Roles in Sexual Relations; Theme 2: Interpreting and Safeguarding Gender Roles. Primary data excerpts are presented to illustrate each theme and implications and applications are discussed.

Conclusions and Implications

Professionals and individuals may examine how religious doctrine is translated into gender attitudes and roles. As individuals understand the many ways highly religious families view gender, gender roles, and gender attitudes, they may be open to examining a wider range of gender interpretations that still remain consistent with their doctrine.

中文翻译：

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探索高度宗教家庭中的性别角色

背景

许多世界宗教明确和/或隐含地促进性别等级，性别角色的父权性质几乎是这些传统中的普遍主题。尽管宗教定义的性别角色中经常出现等级模式，但性别角色的互补性也是许多宗教的基本特征。

目的

关于性别角色的宗教教义可能会二元化地促进关系健康或造成关系伤害——这取决于特定的教义，也许最重要的是，取决于宗教教义在婚姻和家庭中的应用和实践。我们的目标是通过对高度虔诚的妻子和丈夫的采访，探索妻子和丈夫的宗教信仰和实践对他们在婚姻和家庭生活中性别角色的观点和生活经历的影响和意义。

方法

我们使用由穆斯林、基督教徒和犹太家庭（N = 476 个人）组成的种族和民族多元化样本对 198 人进行了深入的定性访谈。关于人际关系中的性别问题并未包含在访谈问卷中，但在许多访谈中，与性别相关的问题自发地浮出水面。参与者的性别评论使用 NVivo 12 软件进行识别，然后使用基于团队的方法进行定性分析 (Marks in Current Psychol, 34(3): 494-505, 2015)。

结果

确定了两个解决性别和宗教关系的主题：主题 1：性关系中的神圣和互补的性别角色；主题 2：解释和保护性别角色。提供了主要数据摘录以说明每个主题，并讨论了含义和应用。

结论和意义

专业人士和个人可以研究宗教教义如何转化为性别态度和角色。当个人了解高度宗教化的家庭看待性别、性别角色和性别态度的多种方式时，他们可能会愿意检查更广泛的性别解释，这些解释仍然与他们的教义保持一致。