Predicting marital satisfaction through early maladaptive schemas and communication styles of couples

Abstract

Marital satisfaction is one of the most important factors in making progress in one’s life and achieving life’s goals. The role of communication in maintaining healthy and prolonged marital relationships is important. One of the internal psychological factors that play a role in marital satisfaction and the relationships of couples is early maladaptive schemas. Hence, this study investigated the effects of early maladaptive schemas and the communication styles of couples in predicting marital satisfaction among married students of Zanjan Azad University. A sample of 93 individuals was selected by convenience sampling method and evaluated by Enrich marital satisfaction scale questionnaire (EMS) (Olson, 1989), Young early maladaptive schemas short-form (YSQ-SF) (Young, 1998), and couple’s communication styles questionnaire (CPQ) (Christensen and Sullaway, 1984). The information obtained from the samples was analysed by SPSS 22 software. Independent T test, Pearson correlation, and regression analysis were also used. The results showed a significant and negative correlation between subjugation schema (r = -0.68), failure schema (r = -0.52), and the total score of early maladaptive schema with marital satisfaction (r = -0.55). There was a significant and positive correlation between the mutual constructivist pattern (r = 0.91), negative and significant correlation between avoidance pattern (r = -0.78), and demand/withdraw pattern with marital satisfaction (r = -0.66). The total score of maladaptive schemas (p