Lived Experiences of Couples in Interfaith Marriages: Understanding the Complexities and Implications for Counselling

Lived experiences of couples in an interfaith marriage has not been widely studied as much as it is practiced in multi-racial countries like Malaysia. Considering the sensitivity of the subject matter, little has been known about this phenomenon unlike in the West where it has been openly documented. Using the Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) through an in-depth interview with 6 couples, this qualitative study aimed to generate a new understanding and insights into the lived experiences of couples with different religious beliefs, especially in the Malaysian context. The study also examined the challenges faced by interfaith couples, impact of their religious differences, as well as mechanisms by which they adjust to religious differences. Findings as shown in the thematic analysis suggest that perceived fear of rejection, actual initial rejection, and marriage preparation were the challenges faced by interfaith couples. Faith education and religious obligations were found to be the area of conflict among interfaith couples, and that interfaith couples adjust to each other religious differences through the relational attributes and assimilation and accommodation strategies. Implications to marriage counseling and possible interventions to conflicts arising from an interfaith marriage are further discussed in this paper.

Keywords: interfaith marriage, Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis, Identity Process Theory, assimilation and accommodation, marriage counseling