Wife's Self-Disclosure to her Husband and Its Relationship to her Marital Satisfaction in Saudi Environment

Abstract

The current study examines the correlation between wives' self-disclosure to their husbands and wives' marital satisfaction. It measures the wives' marital satisfaction, general self-disclosure, and disclosure of specific marital issues. The study also examines how much wives' marital disclosure and marital satisfaction predict each other and the reasons for not disclosing. The study used a comparative, correlative, and descriptive methodology with suitable descriptive and analytical statistical methods. "Wife's Marital Satisfaction" and "Wife's Disclosure to Her Husband" scales, both developed by the current researcher, were applied to a sample of 422 Saudi wives married to Saudi men and living in Mecca, Jeddah and Al-Taif cities of Saudi Arabia. The study revealed a statistically significant positive correlation between wives' marital satisfaction and marital disclosure, both at the level of each disclosure dimension and total disclosure. Disclosure and marital satisfaction predict each other to a statistically significant degree. Wives' marital satisfaction was within the high range, and total wives' self-disclosure and disclosing related to specific aspects of marital life were within the average or moderate range. Reasons for non-disclosure were found to be within average or moderate-intensity range.