Running Head: RELIGIOSITY AND SPIRITUALITY: EFFECTS ON CLOSENESS Religiosity and Spirituality: Effects on Closeness in Romantic Relationships

Romantic relationships are a specific type of connection relevant to our everyday lives. Given the monumental importance of romantic relationships, it is vital to investigate the factors that may influence them, as well as the factors that are affected by them. Two factors that may influence relationships are religiosity and spirituality. For the purpose of this study, we have defined religiosity as the aspects of one’s religious activity, dedication, and belief. We defined spirituality as the belief in a transcendent dimension or being, which occurs when the individual questions the meaning of existence, and attempts to explore his or her relationship to all other beings (Shafranske & Gorsuch, 1984). We investigated the link between religiosity/spirituality and closeness in romantic relationships. Closeness within relationships can be thought of as subjective and defined as the state where partners feel close, connected, or bonded to one another (Regan, 2011). In order to measure positivity within participants’ relationships, we investigated overall levels of closeness through various aspects of attachment, intimacy, self-disclosure, and commitment. As expected, religiosity and spirituality have statistically significant positive correlation, r =.703, p < .01. Overall, our hypothesis was not supported. Unfortunately, we did not have statistical significance with religiosity/spirituality and our overall closeness measure. The only statistically significant correlation we found for all participants was between religiosity