The mediating and moderating role of religious coping between compassion level and conflict resolution styles of married couples: The case of France

The main purpose of this study is to examine the relationships between compassion levels, religious coping strategies and conflict resolution skills of individuals who are currently married or have experienced marriage. The research addresses the moderating effects of positive and negative religious coping strategies in the relationship between compassion and conflict resolution strategies (positive and negative) and the mediating role of positive religious coping in the relationship between compassion and conflict resolution style (positive negative). The sample of the study consists of 364 female and 102 male Turkish immigrants living in France. Divorced individuals were included in the study, but those with no marriage experience or newly married were excluded. Quantitative methods and relational model were used in the research. The data were collected by Personal Information Form, Compassion Scale, Religious Coping Scale and Conflict Resolution Styles Scale and evaluated by t-test, one-way ANOVA, Pearson Correlation, Kolmogorov-Simirnov, Kruskall Wallis H test and Stepwise regression analysis methods. According to the results of the analyses, it was seen that women preferred positive religious coping strategies more than men. Compassion level and conflict resolution styles do not show a significant difference according to the type of marriage. In addition, it was found that compassion and positive religious coping strategies separately had significant and positive effects on positive conflict resolution style, but positive and negative religious coping strategies did not play a moderating role in the relationship between compassion and positive conflict resolution strategies. It was supported that positive religious coping played a partial mediating role in the relationship between compassion and positive conflict resolution style. The results were discussed in the light of the literature and suggestions for future studies in this field were presented. Keywords: Psychology of Religion, Religious Coping, Compassion, Family and Marriage, Conflict Resolution Styles.