Attachment Styles, Gratitude, Forgiveness & Dyadic Adjustment as predictors of Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

Marriage is virtually found in all societies, and a majority of individuals in every society get married at least once in their lifespan. It has been established that the satisfaction of married couples is even more important than the marriage itself. There is no single indicator of marital satisfaction, rather, it is an interplay of a wide variety of factors. Taking an inspiration from John and Julie Gottman’s Sound House Relationship Theory the present study has attempted to study the effect of one’s attachment style, established in one’s childhood/ past as a result of parenting, the effect of present day traits, of newly emerged field of positive psychology such as gratitude, expression of gratitude and forgiveness, and the effect of the dyadic adjustment on marital satisfaction where Attachment style, Forgiveness, Gratitude, Expression of Gratitude, Dyadic Adjustment are independent variables and Marital Satisfaction is the dependent variable. Anxious & Avoidant Attachment styles are found to be negatively correlated with marital satisfaction whereas, gratitude, expression of gratitude, forgiveness & dyadic adjustment are positively correlated with marital satisfaction. Regression analysis was done and dyadic adjustment, forgiveness, attachment anxiety, and expression of gratitude came out to be the major predictors of marital satisfaction. Apart from this, a significant difference in gender in marital satisfaction was found. Females were low on marital satisfaction as compared to males. Further individuals in love marriage were seen to have more marital satisfaction than those in an arranged marriage. A significant difference, was also seen on the forgiveness scale where couples in a love marriage are seen to be more forgiving in a relationship. Lastly, the duration of marriage was also seen to impact marital satisfaction. The individuals for 5 years & below in marriage are concluded to be significantly different than those married for 10 years and above. Individuals in 5 years and below of marriage reported to have higher marital satisfaction.