New research published in Religious Science Research Journal suggests that viewing parenthood as a sacred duty is associated with greater happiness and satisfaction among American adults. This relationship depends largely on how one visualizes God as a relational figure.
Raising children has daily psychological, physical, and economic costs that can drain an adult’s energy. Sociologists and psychologists regularly report that parenting stress may be associated with increased rates of depression and poor physical health. At the same time, the experience of raising children can give deep meaning and purpose to everyday life. Researchers point out that how people interpret their responsibilities as parents has a huge impact on whether they experience joy or pain.
One particular psychological concept that influences this subjective experience is called sanctification. In the social sciences, sanctification is the process of assigning divine nature and significance to ordinary aspects of life. This can become theistic, where a person views their situation as a direct manifestation of God. It can also be nontheistic, recognizing basic human roles such as child rearing as having divine qualities without explicitly attributing them to a particular god. By treating everyday tasks as sacred, people put more energy into them and often report higher levels of satisfaction.
Sociologists Laura Upeniex and Christopher G. Ellison sought to explore how viewing the role of child-rearing as sacred interacts with personal beliefs about the divine entity itself. Upenix, a researcher at Baylor University, and Ellison, a researcher at the University of Texas at San Antonio, focused on what sociologists call images of God. These images represent how people internally visualize the image of God and serve as an internal working model for how they relate to the world.
Scholars generally classify American views of God into four main types. These types are based on whether God is perceived to be actively involved in earthly affairs and whether God is seen as critical. The first type is an authoritative god who is seen as very active in the world and very judgmental about human actions. The second is a merciful God, a God who is zealous, yet forgiving and non-judgmental.
The third type consists of critical gods, who are visualized as separate from everyday human life but quick to judge human failings. Finally, distant gods are seen as not involved in the world or in judging the world. The researchers wondered whether the supposed mental health benefits of viewing parenthood as a divine calling might depend on which of these four images of God a parent held.
To test this idea, Upenieks and Ellison analyzed information from the 2014 Baylor Religion Survey. This national poll collected responses from adults across the United States regarding their behaviors, attitudes, and religious beliefs. The researchers focused their analysis on a specific sample of 1,078 people who were parents and provided answers about their overall health.
Survey respondents were asked to rate their general happiness on a basic scale, as well as their agreement with the statement that they were satisfied with their role as parents. To measure nontheistic sanctification, the survey included questions that asked participants to rate their agreement with the simple statement that parenthood is sacred and sacred.
To capture the inner image of God, the survey asked respondents a series of descriptive questions. Participants indicated whether they thought God was personally involved in their lives, actively concerned with their well-being, or angry at human sin. Through these responses, the researchers categorized each parent into one of four primary images of God.
Statistical models were constructed to account for a variety of potentially influential characteristics, including age, education, race, marital status, and frequency of typical religious attendance. The analysis revealed a clear overall pattern linking parental sanctification to higher individual well-being. Parents who strongly agreed that the role of parenthood is sacred tended to report higher overall happiness. They also reported feeling much more satisfied with their parental responsibilities.
Giving spiritual weight to exhausting life roles seems to help adults weather the downsides of parenting. This positive association changed significantly when combined with a particular view of God. The association between sanctifying parenting and experiencing higher levels of happiness was most pronounced among parents who held an image of an authoritative God.
A similar increase in happiness was found among parents who imagined a benevolent God instead. For these groups, the combination of divine emotions and an active God produced the best spiritual and emotional results. Researchers have proposed several psychological reasons for these patterns.
The image of a benevolent God serves as a constant source of comfort, giving parents a sense of unconditional support when faced with the demanding demands of raising children. The image of an authoritative God provides a sense of divine structure and involvement, even though it has an element of rigid judgment. This worldview blends well with the daily work of disciplining and guiding children, allowing parents to feel that they are acting in accordance with God’s expectations.
Conversely, distant images of God appeared to thwart the positive emotions historically associated with divine parenting. For parents who viewed God primarily as disinterested observers, the association between sanctification and parental satisfaction was significantly weaker. Believing that one’s parental role has ultimate cosmic significance while simultaneously believing that the universe is ruled by an absent God seems to cause cognitive friction.
Even if parents feel that their duties are fundamentally sacred, if they are unable to turn to an active God for help, they may struggle to find the comfort of faith in difficult times. The data did not reveal a statistically significant interaction between sanctifying parenting and having a critical image of God. The researchers had speculated that being critical and God-absent would increase distress in parents who feel overwhelmed by divine duties, but this specific risk was not specified in the study.
This study has several limitations that affect how the conclusions should be interpreted. The analysis relies on cross-sectional data. That is, all the information was collected at a single moment in time. Because of this design, researchers cannot say that treating parenting as sacred directly leads to increased happiness. It’s entirely possible that already happy parents are simply more likely to describe their role in glorious, divine terms.
The study also relied on single-item survey questions to measure complex concepts such as sanctification and well-being, rather than using full diagnostic scales. Additionally, the study sample was uniquely American, being mostly white and mostly Christian. The concept of God and the nature of religious coping can vary widely across different cultures and faith traditions. The authors suggest that future research should follow families over many years to see how these beliefs change as children grow and family dynamics change.
The study, “Parental Sanctification, Image of God, and Parental Happiness and Contentment in the United States,” was authored by Laura Upenieks and Christopher G. Ellison.
