The "Devout Difference": New Research Confirms What the Church Has Always Taught About Marriage

A new report from the Institute for Family Studies gives marriage formation ministers hard data to put behind a message we’ve long taught by faith: a lived, practised faith doesn’t constrain marital love – it deepens it.

October 6, 2026

New research confirms that devout couples enjoy greater marital happiness and report more frequent sex. Priest-sociologist Fr. Andrew Greeley reached the same conclusion over thirty years earlier.

His landmark study, published in Faithful Attraction: Discovering Intimacy, Love, and Fidelity in American Marriage (1991), found that couples who prayed together were twice as likely to describe their marriage as still in its early, romantic stage. They also reported significantly greater sexual satisfaction than couples who didn’t.

What the New Research Found

The Devout Difference: Religion, Marital Quality, and Sex Among Americans (IFS, September 2026), authored by Rich Dell’Isola, Brad Wilcox, Grant Bailey and Jane Lankes Smith, found that:&lt;/p>

79% of churchgoing Catholics and 74% of churchgoing Protestants report being very happily married, compared with 66% of non-religious couples.
Regular churchgoers are 39% more likely to be married in the first place, and divorce at markedly lower rates.
62% of religious spouses report weekly intimacy, compared with 48% of non-religious couples. Further, couples who believe in marital permanence show 1.42 times higher odds of sexual satisfaction.
The most orthodox Catholic young adults, particularly FOCUS alumni, show the strongest marriage formation and stability outcomes of any group studied – 95% report stable marriages within their first decade.

“Belief in permanent marriage commitment significantly predicts sexual satisfaction.” — The Devout Difference, IFS

What This Means for Marriage Formation Ministry

It’s evidence for a theological claim. The data gives empirical weight to what John Paul II’s Theology of the Body (TOB) teaches: the marital embrace is meant to be holy and unitive, not merely functional. Catholic formation programs do well to integrate the TOB into their design as a powerful way to present a compelling vision.
It’s a recruitment tool, not just an apologetic. Couples considering skipping faith formation, or treating Church teaching on sexuality as a burden, can be shown that the data runs the other way. It’s a powerful example of how faith and reason go together, and how the ‘science’ supports the teaching of the church.
It names a real gap alongside the good news. The same report found 25% of churchgoing Catholic husbands view pornography monthly or more. Pornography is a hidden epidemic that is sabotaging many relationships and as church community, requires an active response.

The “devout difference” is real, but it depends on formation that is active, not merely nominal. It takes more than a ‘minimum requirement’ preparation before the wedding and needs to be followed with ongoing accompaniment beyond the honeymoon.