An investigation of the interrelationship between group commitment, religiosity, marital adjustment and attitude to divorce in the Jewish ethnic group

Abstract

The purpose of this research was to investigate the interrelationships between marital adjustment, group commitment, religiosity and attitude to divorce in the Jewish group. It amounted to a within group empirical study of the Jewish community of Cape Town. Research, to date, has focused on marital stability where researchers have found that Jews have lower divorce rates than the general population. The present study attempted to assess the psycho-social outcomes of group commitment in the form of marital adjustment, thus bridging the gap between marital quality and marital stability in the Jewish group. On a wider level, the purpose of this research was to assess whether a social structural framework, utilizing the concept of social integration, is a perspective that can be used in explaining variations in marital adjustment. The following were the findings of the research : Religiosity was correlated to group commitment but not to marital adjustment; group commitment was correlated to marital adjustment; a negative attitude to divorce was not correlated to marital adjustment, group commitment or religiosity.