Examining the Predictors of Marital Conflict in Iraq: Social, Economic, or Psychological Factors

Abstract

Marriage, like any other human relationship, is not without conflict. Sometimes marital conflicts can be the prelude to divorce. Therefore, finding predictors of marital conflict is very important. In the present study, demographic characteristics and psychological variables such as emotion regulation were examined as predictors of marital conflict. In this study, we also sought the importance of each of these variables. The method of this research was descriptive and correlational and its sample included 112 couples living in Iraq who were selected by snowball sampling. People answered questions online. The results of stepwise regression showed that in wives Lent of marriage, Religious Attendance in husbands, Cognitive reappraisal, Marital Equity, Children Under 18 in Home are predictors of marital conflict. And in men Expression suppression, Gender Role Attitudes, Religious Affiliation in wives, Children Under 18 in Home are the main predictors of marital conflict. This finding shows that demographic and psychological variables are important in both groups. However, in husbands, the psychological variable suppression of expression plays the largest role in predicting marital conflict.