Jennifer S. Ripley

The Religious Commitment Inventory-10: Development, refinement, and validation of a brief scale for research and counseling

The authors report the development of the Religious Commitment Inventory-10 (RCI-10), used in 6 studies. Sample sizes were 155, 132, and 150 college students; 240 Christian church-attending married adults; 468 undergraduates including (among others) Buddhists (n = 52), Muslims (n = 12), Hindus (n = 10), and nonreligious (n = 117); and 217 clients and 52 counselors in a secular or 1 of 6 religious counseling agencies. Scores on the RCI-10 had strong estimated internal consistency, 3-week and 5-month test-retest reliability, construct validity, and discriminant validity. Exploratory (Study 1) and confirmatory (Studies 4 and 6) factor analyses identified 2 highly correlated factors, suggesting a 1-factor structure as most parsimonious. Religious commitment predicted response to an imagined robbery (Study 2), marriage (Study 4), and counseling (Study 6).

FORGIVING USUALLY TAKES TIME: A LESSON LEARNED BY STUDYING INTERVENTIONS TO PROMOTE FORGIVENESS

Numerous accounts of research on promoting forgiveness in group settings have been published, indicating that forgiveness can be promoted successfully in varying degrees. Many have suggested that empathy-based interventions are often successful. It takes time to develop empathy for an offender. We report three studies of very brief attempts to promote forgiveness in psychoeducational group settings. The studies use ten-minute, one-hour, two-hour, and 130–minute interventions with college students. The studies test whether various components–-namely, pre-intervention videotapes and a letter-writing exercise–-of a more complex model (the Pyramid Model to REACH Forgiveness) can produce forgiveness. Each study is reported on its own merits, but the main lesson is that the amount of forgiveness is related to time that participants spend empathizing with the transgressor. A brief intervention of two hours or less will probably not reliably promote much forgiveness; however, one might argue that it starts people on the road to forgiving.

The Effects of Religiosity on Preferences and Expectations for Marital Therapy Among Married Christians

Highly religious couples constitute a substantial portion of marital therapy clients in the U.S. Married Christian individuals ( N = 211) completed a survey of demographics and religiosity (religious values and Christian beliefs). They rated preferences and expectations for one of four marital therapy situations: Christian therapist using Christian practices (e.g., prayer or reference to Scripture), Christian therapist using psychological practices only, non-Christian therapist willing to use Christian practices, and non-Christian therapist using psychological practices only. High religious values and high Christian beliefs predicted ratings of marital therapy situations, where high was defined as one standard deviation above the mean of standardized norm groups. Low to moderate religious values or Christian beliefs did not predict ratings of marital therapy. It was concluded that highly religious couples present a special situation where the marketing, assessment, and practice of marital therapy might differ from therapy with other types of couples.

Pilgrims’ Progress: Faculty and University Factors in Graduate Student Integration of Faith and Learning

Graduate students’ perspectives on integration of faith and profession were investigated using item response to identify underlying constructs. Students (N = 595) from various professions and four universities were sampled. Three factors were supported as separate and important constructs for students. The first two factors were drawn from Sorensons research on attachment theory, faculty as bulwark of the faith versus fellow sojourner and faculty as emotionally transparent versus emotionally distant. A new domain of integration, environmental factors such as class Scripture reading, was supported as a unique factor. An examination of diversity variables gave preliminary evidence that females and students of color may see emotional transparency and environmental factors as more important in Christian integration than other students.

Forgiveness-Reconciliation and Communication-Conflict-Resolution Interventions Versus Retested Controls in Early Married Couples

The first 6 months of marriage are optimal for marriage enrichment interventions. The Hope-Focused Approach to couple enrichment was presented as two 9-hr interventions--(a) Handling Our Problems Effectively (HOPE), which emphasized communication and conflict resolution, and (b) Forgiveness and Reconciliation through Experiencing Empathy (FREE). HOPE and FREE were compared with repeated assessment controls. Couples were randomly assigned and were assessed at pretreatment (t1); 1 month posttreatment (t2) and at 3- (t3), 6- (t4), and 12-month (t5) follow-ups using self-reports. In addition to self-report measures, couples were assessed at t1, t2, and t5 using salivary cortisol, and behavioral coding of decision making. Of 179 couples who began the study, 145 cases were analyzed. Both FREE and HOPE produced lasting positive changes on self-reports. For cortisol reactivity, HOPE and FREE reduced reactivity at t2, but only HOPE at t5. For coded behaviors, control couples deteriorated; FREE and HOPE did not change. Enrichment training was effective regardless of the focus of the training.

The Other Side of the Podium: Student Perspectives on Learning Integration

Student perspectives on the transmission of integration in integrative programs were examined through a qualitative study. Participants in the study were 595 graduate and undergraduate students (305 women and 247 men) drawn from four Evangelical Christian institutions of higher education. Participants provided written data in response to three open-ended questions, inquiring about the exemplary and helpful aspects of their educational experiences with respect to integration. Post-hoc content analyses informed by grounded theory analytic processes were used to analyze the data, resulting in two overarching themes: Facilitating Integration, and Concepts of Integration, which respectively address how students learn integration, and how students conceptualize integration. The implications for the conceptualization of integration and for the pedagogy of facilitating integration are explored.

Relationship Factors and Quality Among Mixed-Orientation Couples

Mixed-orientation couples are defined as a heterosexual couple in which 1 partner experiences same-sex attraction and the other does not. Despite the fact that there is a sizable number of mixed-orientation couples in the U.S. adult population, few researchers have studied this population, and thus, there is limited understanding of these relationships. The authors examined the degree to which relationship commitment, partner-focused forgivingness, and marital values were associated with relationship quality, and how these variables predicted relationship quality. The total sample (N = 265) consisted of 2 independent samples—105 sexual minorities (i.e., the spouse who experiences same-sex attraction) and 160 heterosexual spouses. The data were not dyadic. Together, commitment, partner-focused forgivingness, and marital values accounted for roughly 43% of the variance in relationship quality. Relationship commitment was found to be the largest single predictor of relationship quality, followed by partner-focused forgivingness. Research and clinical implications are discussed. This study significantly adds to the current research base by quantitatively measuring various variables in these relationships, as well as expanding our understanding of relationship quality in mixed-orientation couples and factors that may play a role.

Introduction: Reflections on the Current Status and Future of Christian Marriages

This article is the Editors introduction to the special issue of the Journal of Psychology and Theology on Current Issues in Christian Marriages. The current literature on religious marriages are used to understand the materials discussed in this journal issue. Future directions for the development of the scholarly basis and community interventions for Christian marriages are introduced.

Integration of Christianity in Research and Statistics Courses

Teaching pedagogy and praxis on the integration of research skills with Christianity are introduced with practical classroom strategies. The authors discuss the purpose of Christian integration in statistics and research design courses as a spiritual and scientific endeavor. They discuss how they address students’ attitudes towards research with respect for their faith and cultural traditions. The development of research skills and personal virtue character development are a third theme.

Integration of Psychology and Christianity: 2022

This paper forecasts changes to the integration of Psychology and Christianity for the next decade. The focus of the paper is on proposals to address six trends that are seen as hope for the future of the integrationist movement: the healthcare crisis, education, research, application, global networks and technology.