This study examined cross-sectional links of the theistic and non-theistic sanctification of marriage and positive and negative religious coping with marital adjustment for 316 married Muslims from Iran. Perceiving marriage to be a manifestation of God and reflective of sacred qualities as well as engaging in positive and negative religious/spiritual coping strategies each uniquely contributed variance to marital adjustment, after controlling for each other and global indicators of devotion to Islam, and demographic variables. Specifically, theistic sanctification, non-theistic sanctification, and positive (...) r/s coping were uniquely tied to higher marital adjustment whereas negative r/s coping was uniquely tied to lower marital adjustment theistic in a hierarchical regression model with all primary variables and controls entered. These findings replicate and extend prior findings on the perceived sanctity of marriage with US samples of predominantly Christians to Muslims living in the Middle East, and offer novel cross-cultural insights into the possible roles that sanctification of marriage and r/s coping may play for marital well-being for non-distressed married Muslims. (shrink)

Recent developments in novel therapies for neuromuscular diseases offer parents new perspectives on their affected children's future. This article examines how the emergence of new therapies impacts the lives of parents of children with Duchenne muscular dystrophy or spinal muscular atrophy type 2, two genetic neuromuscular disorders characterized by progressive muscle degeneration. Aiming for a first‐person perspective, fieldwork was conducted utilizing participant observation, semistructured interviews, and several internet sources. Six families with a total of 12 persons, all living in Denmark, (...) were included in the interviews. Two types of parents were identified who were at opposite ends in dealing with the new therapies—the cure optimists and the cure pragmatists. Different hopes resulted in different narratives for their children's futures. The article raises questions about how and when children with chronic diseases should be involved in their parent's hopes for a cure and highlights the dilemmas facing health professionals working in the field of children with chronic diseases for which the prospects of a cure are improving. We conclude that health professionals must find a way to carefully balance guidance and information about experimental medicines, including the fact that experimental medicine sometimes fails, does not work as well as hoped for, or does not become available, with sustaining parental hopes for their children's future. (shrink)

_Sanctification: Seeing Life Through a Sacred Lens_ suggests that sacred matters represent a vital interest for the psychology of religion. The articles throughout this special issue propose that individuals can perceive virtually any aspect of their lives as having divine character and significance. Several implications of sanctification for human functioning are discussed: people invest a great deal of time and energy in sacred matters; people go to great lengths to preserve and protect what they perceive to be sacred; sacred aspects (...) of life elicit spiritual emotions; sanctification offers a powerful personal and social resource individuals can tap throughout their lives; and the loss of the sacred can have devastating effects. The articles illustrate initial findings in this area of theory and research, and generate questions to stimulate further explorations into this relatively uncharted area of study. (shrink)