Investigating the Relationship between Emotional Divorce, Marital Expectations, and Self-Efficacy among Wives in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

ABSTRACT Although the family is the core unit of society, any dysfunction in the marriage directly affects the family and, by extension, all of society. One of the divorce processes is called emotional divorce. Given the great effects of emotional divorce on the level of self-efficacy and marital expectations, the purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between emotional divorce, self-efficacy and marital expectations among women in Saudi Arabia. This study was a comparative descriptive study and the study sample consisted of 258 wives from Saudi Arabia, their age ranged from 26 to 54. The study instruments consisted of the emotional divorce, marital expectations, and Self-Efficacy Scales. The results of the study showed that 77% percent of the sample experienced emotional divorce at moderate-to-severe levels. In terms of employment, employed participants rated themselves to have lower emotional divorce than for unemployed participants, and couples with an age difference of more than 10 years demonstrated a higher level of emotional divorce than those 1 to 5 years apart in age. The result also indicated that there were no differences between the other groups. Finally, findings indicate that emotional divorce may be predicted through both self-efficacy and high marital expectations.