The structural relationship of communication beliefs and marital commitment: The mediating role of communication patterns

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors

1 PhD student of general psychology, Department of Psychology, Bojnord Branch , Islamic Azad University, Bojnord, Iran

2 Assistant professor, Department of Psychology, Bojnord Branch , Islamic Azad University, Bojnord, Iran

3 Assistant professor, Department of Psychology, Ghochan Branch , Islamic Azad University, Ghochan, Iran

Abstract

Introduction:  This study aimed to investigate the structural relationship between communication beliefs and marital commitment of couples mediated by their communication patterns.
Materials and Methods: The statistical population of this study comprised all married students of Islamic Azad University of Mashhad in the academic year 2019-2020 who had more than three years of marital life. Through multi-stage cluster randomized sampling method, three-hundred students were selected and fulfilled Adams and Jones Marital Commitment Questionnaire (1997), Eidelson and Epstein Relationship Beliefs Inventory (1981), and Communication Patterns Questionnaire (1984). Data were analyzed using structural equations, SPSS-25, and AMOS-24 software.
Results: The proposed conceptual model has a good fit. The direct effect of communication beliefs on communication patterns is significant and positive (P≤ 0.01, g= 0.66) and on marital commitment is significant and negative (P≤ 0.05, g= -0.47). The direct effect of communication patterns on marital commitment is also significant and negative (P≤ 0.05, ß= -0.67). Assessing standardized coefficients of indirect effects indicated that the indirect effect of communication beliefs on marital commitment (-0.45) is significant (P< 0.01, IF= -0.45). The explained variance of marital commitment in terms of communication beliefs and communication patterns was equal to 0.56.
Conclusion: According to the findings, communication patterns are used as a mediating variable in the relationship between communication beliefs and marital commitment, and two variables of communication patterns and communication beliefs are able to predict marital commitment.

Keywords


  1. Terry ML, Leary MR, Mehta. Self-compassion as a buffer against homesickness, depression, and dissatisfaction in the transition to college. Self Identity 2013; 12(3): 278-90.
  2. Todesco L. Family social background and marital instability in Italy. Do parental education and social class matter? The social science journal 2012; 50(1): 112-26.
  3. Adams JM, Jones T. The conceptualization of marital commitment: An integrative analysis. J Pers Soc Psychol 1997; 72(5): 1177-96.
  4. Ehrenberg MF, Robertson M, Pringle J. Attachment style and marital commitment in the context of remarriage. J Divorce Remarriage 2012; 53(3): 204-19.
  5. Tang CY, Curran MA. Marital commitment and perceptions of fairness in household chores. J Fam Issues 2013; 34(12): 1598-622.
  6. Sternberg RJ. A triangular theory of love. Psychol Rev 1986; 93(2): 119-35.
  7. Zarei S. [The relationship between moral intelligence and spiritual intelligence with marital commitment in women: The mediating role of marital intimacy. Rooyesh 2020; 9(7): 45-54. (Persian)
  8. Sadeghi M, Ghaderijavid S, Shalani B. [Prediction of marital commitment based on personality traits, attachment styles, and religious orientation in married students]. Journal of research on religion and health 2019; 5(3): 18-31. (Persian)
  9. Fincham FD, Stanley S, Beaches SRH. Transformative processes in marriage: An analysis of emerging trends. J Marriage Fam 2007; 69(2): 275-92.
  10. Eidelson RJ, Epstien N. Cognitive and relationship of adjustment development of a measure of dysfunctional relationship belief. J Consult Clin Psychol 1982; 50: 715-20.
  11. Seiri Sabet Sh. [Role of irrational beliefs in marital commitment of married women visiting health centers in 2nd region of Tehran]. Studies of psychology and educational sciences 2019; 4(1): 71-80. (Persian)
  12. Azadifar S, Amani R. [The relationship between communication beliefs and conflict resolution styles with marital satisfaction]. Biannual journal of clinical psychology and personality 2017; 14(2): 39-47. (Persian)
  13. Burpee LC, Langer EJ. Mindfulness and marital satisfaction. J Adult Dev 2013; 12: 43-51.
  14. Slavinskiene J, Zardeckaite-Matulaitiene K. The relations between socio-demographical factors, irrational beliefs, adult insecure attachment style and marital satisfaction of Lithuanian married couples. Advanced research in scientific areas 2012; 1: 1042-7.
  15. Gottman JM. The effects of briefly interrupting marital conflict. J Marital Fam Ther 2018; 44(1): 61-72.
  16. Stackert R, Bursik K. Why am I unsatisfied? Adult attachment style, general irrational relationship beliefs and young adult romantic relationship satisfaction. Pers Individ Diff 2003; 34(8): 1411-19.
  17. Sharp F, Ganong E. Raising awareness about marital expectations: Are unrealistic beliefs changed by integrative teaching? Fam Relat 2000; 49(1): 71-76.
  18. Hamamci Z. Dysfunctional relationship beliefs, in marital satisfaction and adjustment. Social behavior and personality: An international journal 2005; 33(4): 313-28.

19. Ramirez A. An examination of the tripartite approach to commitment: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model Analysis of the effect of relational maintenance behavior. Journal of social and personal relationship 2008; 25(6): 943-65.

  1. Moller A, Vanzeyl PD. Relationship beliefs. Interpersonal perception and marital adjustment. J Clin Psychol 1991; 47(1): 6-28.
  2. Christensen A, Salavy RJ. Communication, conflict, and psychological distance in non-distressed, clinic and divorcing couples. J Cons Clin Psychol 1991; 59(3): 458-63.
  3. Li P-F, Johnson LN. Couples’ depression and relationship satisfaction: examining the moderating effects of demand/withdraw communication patterns. J Fam Ther 2018; 40: S63-85.
  4. Danley CJ. Marital satisfaction in clergy couple: Issues, concern, and mediating factors associated with their roles as pastor and pastor’s spouse. Ph.D. Dissertation. Texas: Woman’s University, 2007: 18
  5. Mam Salehi H, Moradi O, Arefi M, Yar Ahmadi Y. Mediating role of communication patterns in the relationship between self-differentiation and the sexual satisfaction of couples. Iranian journal of psychiatry and clinical psychology 2020; 26(2): 154-69.
  6. Dattilio FM, Epstein NB. The role of cognitive-behavioral interventions in couple and family therapy. J Marital Fam Ther2005; 31(1): 7-13.
  7. Mark KP, Janssen E, Milhausen RR. Infidelity in heterosexual couples: Demographic, interpersonal, and personality-related predictors of extradyadic sex. Arch Sex Behav 2011; 40: 971-82.
  8. Willoughby BJ. The role of marital beliefs as a component of positive relationship functioning. J Adult Dev 2015; 22: 76-89.
  9. Siyavoshi H, Navabinezgad SH. [The relationship between marital communication patterns and irrational beliefs of high school teachers]. News in consulting 2006; 4: 19-34. (Persian)
  10. Hooman HA. Structural equation modeling using LISREL software. Tehran: SAMT; 2005
  11. Shahsiah M, Bahrami F, Mohebi S. [Assessing of relationship between sexual satisfaction and marital commitment of Shareza county couples]. Journal of fundamentals of mental health 2010; 11(3): 233-8. (Persian)
  12. Mohamadi B, Heydarnia A, Abbassi H. Predicting marital commitment based on marital intimacy and forgiveness. Rooyesh 2016; 5(3): 31-50. (Persian)
  13. O’leary KD. Assessment of marital discord. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc; 1987.
  14. James S, Huntley J, Hemsworth D. Factor structure of relationship belief inventory. Cognit Ther Res 2002; 26: 729-55.
  15. Heidari M, Mazaheri MA, Poouretemad HR. [Relationship beliefs and positive feelings toward spouse]. Family research 2016; 2(1): 121-30. (Persian)
  16. Narimani M, Pouresmali A, Mikaeili N, Hajloo N. [The mediating role of couple communication patterns in the relationship between enduring vulnerabilities and marital burnout in the divorce-seeking couples]. Family psychology 2016; 2(2): 51-56. (Persian)
  17. Heavey C, Larson BM, Zumtobel DC, Christensen A. The communication patterns questionnaire: The reliability and validity of a constructive communication subscale. J Marr Fam 1996; 58(3): 796-800.
  18. Ebadatpour B. Standardization marital communication patterns in Tehran couples. MA. Dissertation. Tehran. University of Tarbiat Moallem, 2000. (Persian)
  19. Seyedi SZ, Shah Nazari M. [Prediction of sexual satisfaction of married women based on marital adjustment, communication patterns and emotional regulation]. Rooyesh 2019; 8(9): 179-88. (Persian)
  20. Meyers LS, Gamst G, Guarino AJ. Applied multivariate research: Design and interpretation. Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE; 2016.
  21. Lomax RG, Schumacker RE. A beginner's guide to structural equation modeling. Psychology press; 2004.
  22. West SG, Finch JF, Curran PJ. Structural equation models with no normal variables: Problems and remedies. In: Hoyle RH. (editor). Structural equation modeling Issues, concepts, and applications. Newbury Park, CA: Sage; 1995: 56-75.
  23. Stevens JP. Applied multivariate statistics for the social sciences. London: Routledge; 2012.
  24. Neter J, Kutner MH, Nachtsheim CJ, Wasserman W. Applied linear statistical models. Chicago: Irwin; 1996; 318.
  25. Tabachnick BG, Fidel LS. Using Multivariate Statistics (Baloğlu, M., Çev. Ed.). Ankara: Nobel Yayıncılık; 2015.
  26. Cohen J. A power primer. Psychol Bull 1992; 112(1): 155-9.
  27. Nemechek S, Olson KR. Personality and marital adjustment. Psychol Rep 2014; 78: 26-36.
  28. Willoughby BJ, Hall SS, Luczak HP. Marital paradigms: A conceptual framework for marital attitudes, values, and beliefs. J Fam Issues 2015; 36(2): 188-211.
  29. Sava FA. Maladaptive schemas, irrational beliefs, and their relationship with the five-factor personality model. J Cogn Behav Psychother 2019; 9(2): 135-47.
  30. Tikdari Nejad A, Khezri Moghadam N. [Relationship between irrational beliefs and marital conflicts in couples based on rational-emotive behavior therapy]. Patient safety and quality improvement 2019; 5(2): 526-30. (Persian)
  31. Stackert R, Bursik K. Why am I unsatisfied? Adult attachment style, genered irrational relationship beliefs & young adult romantic relationship satisfaction. Pers Individ Diff 2013; 34(8): 1411-19.
  32. Nickl TK. The relationship between irrational belief and marital satisfaction. Ph.D. Dissertation. USA: Northern: Arizona; 2016.
  33. Seiri Sabet Sh. [The role of communication beliefs in marital commitment of married women referring to District 2 Health Centers in Tehran]. Journal of psychological studies and educational sciences 2018; 4(1): 71-80. (Persian)
  34. Seydi MS, Nazari AM, Ebrahimi M. [Investigating the role of communication and spiritual beliefs in marital satisfaction with the mediation of the relationship quality and age]. Quarterly journal of counseling culture and psychotherapy 2015; 6(4): 111-30. (Persian)
  35. Yubo H, Jiang F. Marital commitment, communication and marital satisfaction: An analysis based on actor-partner interdependence model. National Natural Science Foundation of China. Int J Psychol 2019; 54(3): 369-76.
  36. Yoo J. Gender role attitude, communication quality, and marital satisfaction among Korean adults. J Fam Stud 2020. DOI: 10.1080/13229400.2020.1791230
  37. Lotfi K, Rasouli A. [The relationship between marital quality and satisfaction of basic psychological needs with marital communication patterns: the mediating role of marital intimacy]. Rooyesh 2019; 8(9): 69-76. (Persian)
  38. Amoto PR. Studying marital interaction and commitment with survey data. J Marr Fam 2004; 23: 53.
  39. Moller AT, Epstein N, Sher C. The role of cognitions in marital relationship: Definitional, methodological, and conceptual issues. J Cons Clin Psychol 2001; 57: 3-38.
  40. Ellis A. Rational emotive behavior therapy as an internal control psychology. J Ration Emot Cogn Behav Ther 2000; 18(1): 19-38.

60. Rusbult CE, Olsen N, Davis JL, Hannon PA.  Commitment and relationship maintenance mechanisms. In: Harvey JH, Wenzel A. (editors). Close relationships. New Jersey: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Inc; 2007: 87-100.

  1. Crapo JS, Miller JA, Rhodes MR, Bradford K, Higginbotham BJ. Couple-level communication patterns of disclosure process communication beliefs and their association with marital satisfaction and marital commitment. J Marr Fam Rev 2020; 56(7): 1-20.‏
  2. Bazzazian S, Allah Khan Mohammadi Z, Amiri Majd M, Ghamari M. [The mediating role of family function in the relationship between psychological basic needs, marital expectations and marital commitment]. Contemporary psychology 2018; 13(2): 158-68. (Persian)
  3. Tariveh B, Karimi Q, Akbari M, Moradi O. [Structural model of marital commitment based on marital communication beliefs, emotional involvement, and criticism in the family with mediating role of marital intimacy]. Quarterly of applied psychology 2020; 14(1): 139-58. (Persian)
  4. Milbury K, Badr H. Sexual problems, communication patterns, and depressive symptoms in couples coping with metastatic breast cancer. Psycho-oncology 2012; 22: 814-22.