Happily Ever After Between Jews and Non-Jews?

References

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Abstract

This paper will conduct research to understand effects of marriages between partners of different religions, one Jewish and one non-Jewish. While ascertaining the effect that religion (Jews and non-Jews) has on marriage, I ran several cross-tabulations to find out the percentage of people who are in such relationships and their perceived levels of marital happiness. I analyzed the output generated from the General Social Survey in order to do so. While the output shows that less than half of Jews are married outside of the religion, it was found that it was actually the non-Jewish partners were the ones who reported having a lower level of satisfaction in the marriages. I also discovered that religiosity was a factor; those who claimed that they were strong in their religious affiliations were more likely to be married to someone of the same religion. It was difficult to accurately determine the influence that religiosity had on marital happiness; respondents who claimed to be stronger in their religions reported a higher level of marital satisfaction, but the exact number of these people who were in a Jewish/non-Jewish marriage cannot be known. The research suggests that, in fact, those involved in Jewish intermarriage will experience lower levels of marital satisfaction, mostly on behalf of the non-Jewish partner. Several other findings are noted in the results section of the paper, in hopes of determining other possible effects of Jewish intermarriage on marital stability and quality.

Introduction

In the past twenty-five years, there has been increase in interfaith marriages in the United States. This has been a cause of concern amid Jews, for fear of complete assimilation and loss of Jewish identity (Davis 177). Judaism is seen not only as a religion, but as an ethnicity and culture that must not be forgotten in a predominantly Christian country. But as intermarriage is becoming more common among the American Jewish population, it is necessary to discern not only the causes of such a trend, but also the effects on such marriages. Also, it is quite important to discover the ways religiously heterogamous marriage affects family life. Although Jews are still more likely (over 50% in all studies I found) to marry a person of the same religion, the rate of interfaith marriage among Jews in the United States is now at an all-time high of 50%, the highest in the entire Diaspora (Callahan 2002: 3200). The General Social Survey from 1998 yielded slightly different results: at that time, only 33.3% of Jews were marrying outside the religion. Previous findings have shown that intermarriage, and specifically Jewish-Christian marriage, has effects on marital stability and satisfaction. In fact, there are more distinct differences featured in Jewish-Christian marriages than in marriages across two Christian denominations (Chinitz and Brown 2001: 724). Earlier research confirms that there have been "no extremely strong barriers to religious outmarriage except among Jews" (Glenn 1982: 555). However, there are many important aspects to consider when determining specific outcomes of such relationships. I will use previous research to discover divorce statistics, religious identity of the families, levels of marital satisfaction, and religiosity of the couples to evaluate further possible effects of intermarriages in which one of the partners is Jewish. Furthermore, this paper will take into account other factors, such as the religiosity of each partner in interfaith marriages claim to be, as well as the gender of each partner in relation to their religion (whether it is the husband or wife who is Jewish/non-Jewish). I am posing one main research question: What effects do marriages between Jews and non-Jews have on the quality of the relationships?

Previous Studies

Research has shown that people married to someone of a different religion are "at least slightly more likely than religiously homogamous marriages to end in divorce" (Glenn 1982: 555). It can be observed that the duration of the marriage is affected by religious difference; divorce rates are significantly higher in Jewish-Christian marriages than Jewish-Jewish, with a 50% chance of divorce in the former versus 20% in the latter (Gleckman and Streicher 1990: 480). From this we can tell that chance of divorce is twice as high when a Jew marries someone of a different religion. However, we should also note that the divorce rate among religiously heterogamous marriage reflect the general American divorce rate (Chinitz and Brown 2001: 724). However, the divorce rate for religiously homogenous Jewish marriages was less than the average American divorce rate. Studies have also shown that people in these types of unions are more likely to feel confused about their relationship, as well as being more likely to end in divorce than marriages across Christian denominations, such as Protestant-Catholic (Chinitz and Brown 2001: 723). The rate of divorce is inversely related to the religious homogeneity of the couple (Mullins et al 2004: 338). As well as claiming the same religion, it was found that actively participating in religious activities together decreases risk of divorce (Mullins et al 2004: 340). This would clearly be difficult to do if partners were of different religions. Another factor that could influence these percentages is the religion of the non-Jewish partner. The couple is more likely to stay together if the non-Jewish partner is Protestant rather than Catholic (Rebhun 1999: 71). It is also important to take into account the sex of the Jewish/non-Jewish partner, since divorce can also be affected by which religion the female/male partner is. The GSS indicates that Jewish males are more likely to marry outside the faith than Jewish females (40% versus 27.8%). While there are clearly other aspects that could lead to divorce, this can be directly linked to the separate issue of the families' (parents' and children's) religious identities.

Jewish/Christian intermarriage has been one of the main influences of fear of assimilation among the Jewish population for quite some time. Marriage outside the faith is strictly forbidden in Jewish law, and could be a cause of conflict in such marriages. So what effects will intermarriage have on religious identity? It has been noted beforehand that only 31% of non-Jewish spouses convert to Judaism, and that very few Jews convert to other religions, leaving many households of mixed religion (Lazerwitz 1995: 433). Also, converts to a partner's religion proved to only be as active in the faith as their spouse (Lazerwitz 1995: 433). Analysis has proven that religious homogeny in the home is more satisfactory (reportedly, higher levels of happiness is felt among the couple) to members of the family due to different social elements, such as culture and values. The rate of interfaith marriage is inversely related to the component of religious identity (Winter 2002: 39). There is also the religious identity of the children of such marriages to consider. Only 35% of interfaith couples (in which partners had not converted) raise their children as Jews and 15% were raising children in another religion (Lazerwitz 1995: 439). Callahan's study of 32 Jewish/Christian families yielded varying results: Seventeen (53%) of the couples were raising children Jewish, three couples (9%) were raising Christian children, five (16%) couples were raising children as no religion, one couple (4%) was raising the child as "other," and six couples (18%) were raising children as both Christian and Jewish. While this shows that intermarriage does not yield significant effects on the American Jewish population, it does leave many children in such families without a stable religious identity (Callahan 2002: 3200). This study also stated that it appeared to be easier for Christians to embrace Judaism than for Jewish spouses to accept Christianity/Christian values; interestingly, the degree of "Jewish identity" felt by the Jewish partner was inversely related to whether or not they were married to someone of a different religion (Winter 2002: 40). But as a common rule, religious education of children seemed to be one of the biggest sources of tension in Jewish interfaith marriages (Chinitz and Brown 2001: 723). From these studies, it can be concluded that Jewish/non-Jewish marriages have an effect on the religious identity of the couple and family. As well as affecting religious identity, the marriage itself is affected by the degree of religiosity of the individuals.

A correlation has also been discovered between religious homogeny and marital stability/satisfaction. Disagreements on Jewish issues act as catalysts for marital conflict; attitudes towards religious practices have a considerable effect on divergence in the relationships (Chinitz and Brown 2001: 732). Observance of different holidays, such as Christmas versus Hanukkah, is only part of a path towards establishing some kind of religious "middle ground" (Andrews-Horowitz 1999: 303). However, in order to ascertain the effects religion has on satisfaction, we must consider how religious the married couples actually are. Studies have shown that marital quality may be related more to the degree of agreement on Jewish issues than the actual Jewish-Non-Jewish marriage (Chinitz and Brown 2001: 732). The actual religion in which the partners were raised does not have nearly as much effect on tension in the marriage as the degree of religiosity. Laserwitz found that the more traditional the denomination in which someone was raised (whether Jewish or Christian), the lower the rate of intermarriage. Consistency in marital dissatisfaction was not found when respondents reported Judaism as not being very important (Winter 2002: 38). In addition, I think it is necessary to compare statistics about reported levels of marital satisfaction among three different cohorts: marriages in which one partner is Jewish, marriages in which one partner is Jewish and one has converted to Judaism, and marriages in which both partners are Jewish, in order to accurately determine distinctions between the different types of marriages.

Hypotheses

Stemming from this research, we can theorize that Jewish intermarriage will result in a higher risk of divorce; a decline in overall marital satisfaction, depending on the religiosity of the couple. I will also hypothesize that the Jewish partner will report a lower level of marital happiness than the non-Jewish partner. I will define Jewish intermarriage as two people who are or have been married, with one of the people being Jewish and the other being non-Jewish. Religious homogamy will refer to possessing the same attitudes about religious beliefs. The preferred religion of each partner will be used as independent variables. Through a survey, people will answer specifically what religion they consider themselves to be and what religion their spouses consider themselves to be, and this way the percentage of Jewish intermarriage can be determined. The concept of marital satisfaction will be classified by the level of happiness reported by the couple and will be described as a dependent variable (dependent on whether or not the partners are of different religious backgrounds and on the religiosity of the partners). Also, the degree of religiosity of each partner must be taken into account; this will be evaluated through a survey question in which respondents answered on a scale of being not religious to strong in their religious preference. I believe that those who feel strongly in their religion and are a partner in a Jewish intermarriage will report lower levels of satisfaction than those who feel less strong about their religious identity. Therefore, religiosity will be used as an independent variable.

Research Design

I will be using the General Social Survey to acquire statistics needed for this study. The General Social Survey is a survey of U.S. households (adults) conducted annually since 1972. The GSS covers many different variables, and may also replicate questions over the years to attain the highest degree of accuracy. Over the years, the GSS has received information on more than 3,000 questions answered by more than 38,000 respondents, and over 900 questions have been replicated to show social change. Information will only be obtained from adults over the age of 17, who have answered various questions asked in the given years. I will use these answers in order to determine the effects of Jewish intermarriage. One of the independent discrete variables will be one's own religion. This will be based on a question used in the 1998 GSS, in which respondents were asked, "What is your religious preference? Is it Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, some other religion, or no religion?" Also, another discrete variable to be considered is the non-Jewish respondents who are married to Jewish people, or vice versa. To determine this, I will use another GSS question from 1998 in which respondents were asked, "What is your husband's/wife's religious preference? Is it Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, some other religion, or no religion?" From this I will use a cross-tabulation chart to determine the percentage of people in a marriage in which one of the partners is Jewish. The religion of the respondents' spouse will act as the control variable. In order to determine the levels of marital satisfaction, I will also examine this variable by incorporating it into the chart as a dependent variable. This question was also used in 1998, asking, "Taking all things together, how would you describe your marriage? Would you say that your marriage is very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?" From the chart it can be observed in these three categories, and we can see the percentages of people in Jewish intermarriages in each category. Another factor that should be taken into account is if the reported level of happiness in the marriage varies between religions. This can also be observed in the cross-tabulation chart, by looking at the religion of the respondents versus the religion of the spouses in each category of marital satisfaction. I will also take religiosity into account; to determine its effect on marital satisfaction, I will analyze the results of responses regarding strength of religious identity. The specific question asks, "Would you call yourself a strong (PREFERENCE NAMED IN RELIG OR DENOM) or a not very strong (PREFERENCE NAMED IN RELIG OR DENOM)?" and provides seven different answer choices. In using this continuous variable, we will be able to see how religiosity itself affects perceived marital quality. Through creating these two- and three-way cross-tabulation charts and analyzing the data, statistics regarding levels of overall satisfaction in Jewish interfaith marriages can be acquired.

Results

Table 1 depicts a simple chart of the respondents' religion in relation to their spouse's religion. It is important to view this univariate statistic in order to determine the percentage of people who are actually involved in a Jewish interfaith marriage. I collapsed the table to form only five groups: Protestant, Catholic, Jewish, Other, and No Religion. From the chart, we can see that only 9.1 percent of Protestants and 12.1 percent of Catholics are married to Jews. However, the GSS shows that 66.7 percent of Jews are married within the religion, a different proportion from previous findings. Jews who were married outside the faith were more likely to marry those of "No Religion" or "Other" than Protestants or Catholics. It could be speculated that this could be resultant of those relating to no or some other type of religion having less strict religious boundaries, and therefore possessing less opposition to their spouse's Jewish customs.

Using these variables, I controlled for the respondents' report of their marital happiness. Table 2 shows the cross-tabulation and multivariate statistics of those of other religions married to Jews and vice versa in relation to perceived marital happiness (very happy, pretty happy, and not too happy).

One extremely predominant finding was that a vast majority of respondents married to someone of the same religion reported their marriage to be "very happy." Also, no marriages with a Jewish partner were reported as being "not too happy," which was also an interesting finding, contradictory to the hypothesis. On the contrary, results showed that marriages across Christian denominations were more likely to report a lower level of marital satisfaction. A large percentage of people who claimed no religion and were married to a Jew reported a lower level of happiness ("Pretty Happy") than Catholics and Protestants; it is hard to discern why this may be. Nonetheless, it is also important to note that while the majority of Catholics and Protestants married to Jews reported marriages to be "Very Happy," Jews who had married Catholics or Protestants responded that they would describe their marriage as being "Pretty Happy." However, this was the opposite of the responses from the non-Jewish partners who claimed to be "No Religion" and were married to Jews; a higher percentage of these respondents reported a lower level of satisfaction than the Jewish respondents.

Table 3 represents the religion of the respondent cross-tabulated with their spouse's religion while controlling for the strength of their religious affiliation. From this we are able to discern that those who reported a stronger connection to their religious affiliation were more likely to marry within their faith. Those who reported feeling "strong" in their religion but did not marry someone of the same religion tended to marry either someone else of "no religion." Perhaps due to their own religious beliefs, marrying someone who had no specific religious affiliation was easier than marrying someone else who was strong in their beliefs of a different religion. Among respondents who reported feeling "not very strong" in their religious beliefs, the majority of the people still tended to marry someone of their own religion. However, percentages of those who married someone of a different and specific religion were significantly higher than those who felt "strong" in their religious beliefs. For instance, Protestants who did not marry other Protestants or someone of "No Religion" or "Other" were likely to marry Jews, rather than Catholics. Catholics who felt "not very strong" in their religion, however, were more likely to get married across Christian denominations than to Jews.

For Table 4, I used the cross-tabulation for the religion of the respondent's spouse, and their marital happiness while controlling for religiosity of the respondent. Those who claimed to be "no religion" were not included, since they could not have a specific level of strength in a particular religious affiliation. Since one is able to determine the effect that the strength of affiliation on the likelihood of interfaith marriage, Table 4 will show the effect that religiosity has on marital happiness for Jewish and non-Jewish partners.

Several interesting statistics were revealed in the last table. The majority of Jews reported as being "very happy," 48 to 18 who claimed to be "pretty happy" and 18 who said they were "not very happy." Jewish partners also tended towards the mean of feeling "somewhat strong" in their religious beliefs, as did Catholics and people who responded as being of another religion. Protestants, however, predominantly tended to report feeling "strong" in their beliefs; an overwhelming number of Protestants also reported to be "very happy." In order to determine how religiosity affects marital happiness, I felt it was necessary to concentrate on the people who said that they were "not too happy." For Protestants, the majority of people who claimed to be "not too happy" reported as also feeling strong in their religious beliefs. However, Jews and Catholics who were "not too happy" in their marriages were still in the average category of feeling "somewhat strong" in their affiliations. This made it difficult to discern what exactly the relationship was between religiosity and its effects on marital happiness in an interfaith marriage, because it cannot be determined which of the respondents were currently in a Jewish interfaith marriage. However, since it is known from Table 3 how strength of religion affects intermarriage, one could use these statistics and incorporate them with one of the other tables to discover how exactly strength of religion affects happiness in interfaith marriages and not all marriages, as shown in Table 4.

Discussion and Conclusion

In studying the previous research done on the topic and by using data from the General Social Survey, this paper aimed to ascertain the effects of Jewish intermarriage, specifically on divorce, religious identity, and marital stability. I also looked at more specific factors in the marriages, such as degree of religiosity and gender of the Jewish/non-Jewish partner, to see how this can also affect the relationships. Despite previous studies and their findings and in opposition to my hypothesis, cross-tabulations from the General Social Survey showed that non-Jewish partners who were of no specific religion reported being less happy in interfaith marriages than the Jewish partners. However, in support of my hypothesis, Jewish partners in interfaith marriages who are married to Catholics or Protestants had a reportedly lower level of marital satisfaction than Catholics or Protestants who are married to Jews. An interesting topic for further research would include an exploration of possible causes for the difference in responses. So, in testing my hypothesis that Jewish partners would report a lower level of satisfaction from non-Jewish partners, this was only accurate in the case of Jews who are married to Catholics or Protestants; the hypothesis is inaccurate if the situation involves a partner who is of no religion or another religion.

I also hypothesized that religiosity would be a major factor; it was concluded that those who felt very strongly in their religious affiliation were more likely to marry someone of the same religion. Another significant finding should be noted; all religions studied except for Protestants (i.e. Catholic, Jewish, Other) tended toward the mean of religiosity. Most respondents claimed to feel "somewhat strong" in their beliefs. Also, the majority of Jews and non-Jews responded as being "very happy" in their marriages

There were several limitations present when conducting this study. The most significant one was the fact that I was unable to determine the effect that interfaith marriage had on divorce rates. The GSS would be unable to reveal respondents who had previously been in a Jewish-non-Jewish marriage and were now divorced. This was disappointing, as it was discussed in my research design and would have been a prime indicator of interfaith marriage's effects on marital stability. This may also be something that could be incorporated in a deeper study, using a different research design.

I was able to discover several effects that intermarriage may have. For instance, the religion of the non-Jewish partner in the marriage is a key factor that I was not expecting, and I focused mainly on the non-Jewish as a whole; this would also be important in further research. And while I may have overlooked some other variables that could have been analyzed, this paper offers deeper insight as to how religion affects marriage in general.