Modeling the Role of Family Spirituality in Predicting Marital Resilience through the Mediation of Meaning in Life and Relational Hope
Keywords:
family spirituality, marital resilience, meaning in life, relational hope, couples, thematic analysis, TehranAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to qualitatively explain the role of family spirituality in shaping marital resilience through the processual mechanisms of meaning in life and relational hope among married couples in Tehran.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. The research population consisted of married couples living in Tehran who had experienced marital, economic, familial, or emotional stressors but had continued their relationship. Participants were selected through purposive sampling with attention to diversity in age, length of marriage, socioeconomic status, and number of children. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and continued until theoretical saturation was achieved. A total of 24 participants, including 12 women and 12 men, participated in the study. Interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. Coding and theme development were performed through iterative reading, initial coding, theme construction, review, and refinement. Credibility was enhanced through member checking, peer debriefing, analytic memoing, prolonged engagement with the data, and maintenance of an audit trail.
Findings: Data analysis yielded four main categories: “family spirituality as a shared meaning-making system,” “meaning in life as reinterpretation of marital suffering,” “relational hope as a force for repair and continuity,” and “marital resilience as relational reorganization after crisis.” The findings indicated that family spirituality was experienced not merely as religious ritual, but as a shared relational field of ethical values, trust in God, forgiveness, commitment, gratitude, compassion, and perceived transcendence in marital life. Family spirituality appeared to strengthen marital resilience by helping couples reinterpret adversity, preserve a sense of purpose, imagine a repairable future, and sustain emotional connection despite conflict.
Conclusion: The findings suggest that family spirituality may enhance marital resilience through the intertwined mechanisms of meaning in life and relational hope. Culturally sensitive couple interventions in Iranian contexts may benefit from integrating couples’ spiritual resources to support meaning-making, hope reconstruction, emotional repair, and resilient marital functioning.
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