Marital Satisfaction and Communication Skills among Married Couples

Abstract

Communication styles among the couples may have a key association with marital satisfaction. Marital communication patterns vary across cultures. The present study aims to understand the relationship between marital satisfaction and communication skills among married couples. Further this study aims to find out the influence of demographics such as age, gender, years of marriage on marital satisfaction. The sample for the present study consisted of 50 couples, (50 wives and 50 husbands) from Kannur district, Kerala. Marital Satisfaction Scale and Interpersonal Communication Inventory were administered on the couples. With the supporting studies, results have shown that the interpersonal communications among couples can predict satisfaction of their marital life. The study findings highlight the influence of gender and other demographic factors on marital satisfaction. The results of the study have an important implication for couples, family counselors and educators.

Full text

Academic and Law Serials ISSN : 0019-5626
e-ISSN : 2454-3624
MARITAL SATISFACTION AND COMMUNICATION
SKILLS AMONG MARRIED COUPLES
Farah Haris
M.Sc., Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Farook College (Affiliated to University of Calicut)
Kerala, India
Aneesh Kumar P.
Ph.D., Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology
Christ University
Bengaluru, India
Abstract
Communication styles among the couples may have a key association with
marital satisfaction. Marital communication pa erns vary across cultures. The
present study aims to understand the relationship between marital satisfaction
and communication skills among married couples. Further this study aims to
fi nd out the infl uence of demographics such as age, gender, years of marriage on
marital satisfaction. The sample for the present study consisted of 50 couples,
(50 wives and 50 husbands) from Kannur district, Kerala. Marital Satisfaction
Scale and Interpersonal Communication Inventory were administered on the
couples. With the supporting studies, results have shown that the interpersonal
communications among couples can predict satisfaction of their marital life. The
study fi ndings highlight the infl uence of gender and other demographic factors
on marital satisfaction. The results of the study have an important implication for
couples, family counselors and educators.
Key Words: Marital Satisfaction, Communication Skills, Married
Couples.
Introduction
An overview of divorce cases in India, number of cases disposes
in family courts of the three years (2012, 2013 and 2014) and
pending cases. Kerala is apparently credited to be the divorce capital of
the country. Disposed cases in Kerala during the year 2012, 2013, and
2014 are 40499, 54215 and 47525 respectively, and the cases pending
are 52541 (till 31.12.2014). List is followed by Maharashtra, Karnataka,
Indian Journal of Social Research Vol. 59 (1) (Jan. - Feb., 2018) (35-44)

36 Farah Haris and Aneesh Kumar P.
etc., whereas Sikkim shows comparatively less (194, 300 and 245
respectively) among other states of the country (“Kerala has highest
number of divorces”, 2016).
According to the latest report released by the High Court of Kerala, the
number of divorce petitions filed in the family courts has surged up from
18,500 in 2014 to 19,028 in 2015. The total number of cases registered in
the courts in relation to family disputes is 51,153. Thiruvananthapuram
district recorded the maximum number of mutual consent petitions
at 2968, Kannur is 5th in position (1269), Wayanad (239) reported less
among other districts of Kerala (“Divorce rates surge in state”, 2016).
Another article points out, 1937 divorce cases is reported in three months
in Kerala (“Kerala has highest number of divorces, five cases every
hour”, 2016). From all the above articles, it is necessary to have a look
on the different factors influencing marital life among Keralites than
other states of India.
Marital satisfaction is the subjective evaluation of one’s experience
in their marriage. By subjective evaluation, we mean that marital
satisfaction can only be rated by each person in response to the question,
“How satisfied are you?” The level of a person’s satisfaction cannot be
determined by anyone else. Marital satisfaction is not a property of a
relationship; it is a subjective experience and opinion (Baghipour, 2010).
Communication skills are the ability to symbolically and efficiently
transfer the meanings and messages one has in mind, when the couple’s
communication is of a better quality, they can feel closer to each other, can
share thoughts and feelings, can feel more intimate, and by prevention
of any possible misunderstanding which is at the bottom of couple’s
conflicts, the couples can more enjoy being together (Baghipour, 2010).
Therefore, communication plays a central role in marriage, and the
communication skills are the key predictors of relationship satisfaction
between couple (Lavner, Karney and Bradbury, 2016).Communication
skills training leads to improvement of relationships, better handling
of difficult situations, mental and physical health, & better social
performance (Lundblad & Hansson, 2006).
Significance of study
As the contemporary situations is worth in need of solutions to the
problems related to marital satisfaction, so a clear cut attribution
regarding the problem should be obtained which will tell us whether
the major cause behind them is lack of communication or not. A
satisfied married life should get developed among people and

37
Marital Satisfaction and Communication Skills among Married Couples
awareness regarding to role of communication should be conveyed
to married couples. So that the influence of communication skill on
marital satisfaction among married couples are important because it
may help the professionals to implement proper training program, in
order to enhance better marital communication skill among the sample
population who experience lack of marital satisfaction due to poor
communication between the partners. Since a successful marital life
can provide a safe environment for meeting physical and psychological
needs and desires; it can help the couples live more happily and
satisfyingly, also can help them better to resolve their conflicts, and
therefore, can bring them a strong bond for the better family functioning
and social well-being. The finding of this study will expose prospective
married people to how to achieve satisfying marriage.
Method
The present study was a type of correlational research design, whether
communication skills is correlated with marital satisfaction or not.
Objectives
• To understand the relationship between marital satisfaction and
communication skills.
• To find out the relation between marital satisfaction and
communication skills.
• To understand the gender differencemarital satisfaction and
communication skills.
• To understand the relation among other demographic variables on
marital satisfaction and communication skills.
Hypotheses
H1: There will be a positive correlation between marital satisfaction
and communication.
H2: Communication stylecanpredict marital satisfaction.
H3: There will be a significant gender difference between marital
satisfaction and communication.
H4: There will be a significant difference between marital satisfaction
and communication skills on demographic variables, such as age and
years of marriage of the couples.

38 Farah Haris and Aneesh Kumar P.
Participants
The sample for the present study consisted of wives and husbands
from different part of Kannur district, Kerala. The sample consisted
of 100 participants (50 wives and 50 husbands). Purposive sampling
technique has been used for selecting the samples.
Inclusion criteria
• Age of the participants should be between 20 - 50 years.
• Years of marriage of the participants were up to 30 years.
Exclusion criteria
• Participants who have any form of mental or physical disability.
• Couples who are separated or divorced.
Instruments
Demographic Data Sheet
This consists of personal details such as age, gender, number of years
of marriage. It was prepared by the researcher. For the better analysis,
age and number of years of marriage has been further divided in to
three groups. Participants age 20 to 29, 30 to 39 & more than 40 years
old and the participants who got married less than 10, 11 to 19 & more
than 20 years of marriage.
Interpersonal Communication Inventory
The interpersonal communication inventory was used to measure
communication skills among participants. It was developed by
Millard J. Bienvenu, which consist of 40 items with three responses
(Yes /No /Sometimes).Internal consistency reliability established with
alpha coefficients from 0.92 to 0.95.The score ranges from 0-120. The
development of the inventory was based upon previous research in
related areas of marital communication (Bienvenu, 1971).
Marital Satisfaction Scale
The questionnaire was developed by BrundaAmrithraj and Indira
Jaiprakash (1988). It is used to measure marital satisfaction of the
participants. The questionnaire consists of 30 questions. Each question
has 3 alternatives. The split-half reliability of the test correlating odd-
even items applying Spearman-Brown formula was 0.94 and the
validity of the test was found to be 0.77. Score ranges from 0-60. Higher
the score, higher the marital satisfaction.

39
Marital Satisfaction and Communication Skills among Married Couples
Data collection
Prior permission was obtained from the participants for the data
collection. The sample consisted of 100 (50 wives and 50 husbands)
and they were selected following purposive sampling technique.
Initially rapport was established, and then the researcher approached
the participants directly with the questionnaire of both marital
satisfaction scale and interpersonal communication skills scale along
with demographic data sheet. Then the participants were given proper
instructions:‘the sheet given to you comprises 70 questions with
options. Read each statement carefully and give true response. There
is no right or wrong answers. Do not spend too much time on any
of the statement; feel free to withdraw the participation at any time.
Give the answer which seems to be desirable. We will maintain the
confidentiality of your response’.
Ethical Issues Considered
Participation in the study was voluntary, informed consent was
obtained from all the study subjects and the date and time of interview
was decided as per their convenience. All the participants were ensured
about confidentiality of the information.
Data analysis
Data sheets were collected from the selected samples and incomplete
data sheets were removed. The remaining data sheets were checked
and analyzed. The statistical analysis of the crosschecked data was
conducted with the help of SPSS.20 for windows. The data were
analyzed through descriptive statistics, bivariate correlation analysis,
linear regression, independent sample‘t’-test and one- way ANOVA.
Results
The present study was conducted so as to understand the relation
between marital satisfaction and communication. Also aims to find out
the significance of the demographic variable on the study variables.
The study consisted of 100, in which 50 husbands and 50 wives were
participated. 44, 40 and 16 were participated in the age group 20-30, 31-
40 and 41-50 years old participants respectively. And the 70 participants
who got married within 10years (including 10), 22 participants were
got married in between 11 to 20 years (included both 11 and 20) and
only 7 comes under 21- 30 years of marriage.

40 Farah Haris and Aneesh Kumar P.
Table 1: Frequency table of samples
Samples ( N=100) Frequency Percent
Gender Husbands 50 50
Wives 50 50
Age
(in years old)
20-30 44 44
31-40 40 40
41-50 16 16
Years of Marriage
(in years)
≤ 10 71 71
11-20 22 22
21-30 7 7
Table 2: Pearson Correlation among Marital Satisfaction Scores and Interpersonal
communication scores
(N = 100) Marital satisfaction Scores
Interpersonal Communication Scores r = +.56**
A Pearson product-moment correlation was run to determine the
relationship between marital satisfaction and communication. The
data showed there is a positive correlation between marital satisfaction
and communication (H1 accepted) which was statistically significant (r
=+.56, n =100, p<.01).
Table 3: Regression analysis between communication and marital satisfaction.
Predictor variable Dependent
variable
Standardized Beta
value t value Model summary
Communication Marital
satisfaction
.56 6.75 R2 = .31
Adjusted R2 = .31
F = 45.65
Sig. =.000b
Marital satisfaction is significantly predicted by communication skills,
β = .56, t = 6.75, p< .001. Marital satisfaction also explained a significant
proportion of various in communication scores(H2 accepted), R2 = .31,
F =45.65, p <.001. About 31% of marital satisfaction is predicted by the
communication skills of the couple.
Table 4: t-test for gender differences of marital satisfaction and communication skills
Variables Category N Mean Std. Deviation t value Sig.
Marital
satisfaction
Male 50 33.14 5.59 1.53 .12
Female 50 31.62 4.21
Communication Male 50 68.72 19.06 .45 .64
Female 50 67.06 17.06

41
Marital Satisfaction and Communication Skills among Married Couples
Present study found that both marital satisfaction and communication
among couples are not statistically significant, (H3rejected) (t = 1.53,
p>.05 and t = .45, p>.05 marital satisfaction and communication
respectively).
Table 5: ANOVA results based on demographic variables.
Demographic variable Study variable Between groups F Sig.
df Mean square
Age Marital satisfaction
Communication
2
2
8.47
24.46
.33
0.07
.71
.92
Years of marriage Marital satisfaction
Communication
2
2
39.26
103.70
10.60
.31
.20
.73
From the results, shows there is no significant difference between
marital satisfaction and communication on age and years of marriage
(p>.05) of the participants (H4rejected).
Discussion
The study aims to understand the relationship between marital
satisfaction and communication skills among married couples. Further
this study aims to find out the influence of demographics such as age,
gender, years of marriage on marital satisfaction and communication.
From the results, study supports that communication plays a central
role in marriage. The quality of communication between spouses is
widely assumed to affect their subsequent judgments of relationship
satisfaction, yet this assumption is rarely tested against the alternative
prediction that communication is merely a consequence of spouses
prior levels of satisfaction. Couple communication skills are the
key predictors of relationship satisfaction (Lavner, Karney and
Bradbury, 2016).
Talking about the marital relationship among couple, discussing the
works or daily activities, expressing the things which they liked and
disliked, communicating about sexuality, etc. will have significant role
in maintaining the good relationship. And communication is negatively
effect on the relationship, if the spouse is telling more about their
children and activities of them more than telling his/her partner. Here
the communication is in between parent and children working out more
than communication husband and wife. It is also important the way in
which communication is made (Sanchez & Martinez, 2016). Sometimes,
partners often speak to each other using different terminology with
an intention to not understand the communication properly by other

42 Farah Haris and Aneesh Kumar P.
partner, also have personal agendas, and self-identity needs that
frequently negatively impact the communication in their marriage.
Unfortunately, communicating just isn’t as simple as exchanging
information using the words we speak or write (Smith, 2015).
Spark of the conflicts among couple starts, one among the couple could
not communicate well with their spouse or the way how husband
interpreted the communication which wife made and vice versa
(Tavakolizadeh, Nejatian & Soori, 2016). Therefore, communication
skills are important determinant of marital satisfaction. The couples
can enjoy more being together as long as their interpersonal
communication exists, which prevents any possible misunderstanding
from the conflicts (Baghipour, 2010).
Study also supports the gender equality for the satisfaction of the
marriage. Some wives and husbands used to complaint each other as,
all men are like this or all women are like this. It is necessary to wipe out
the rubbish comments by the partner. Since no specific gender group
are dominant either in marital satisfaction or communication among
couple (Jackson, Miller, Oka & Henry, 2014).
Alternatively, a family court lawyer, Jayachandran says in his article
that both men and women are equally responsible for making conflicts
and filling divorce cases (“Kerala is India’s divorce capital”, 2016).
From the findings, there is no significant difference between marital
satisfaction and communication on age and years of marriage of the
participants. When we look on to the ages of the couple, many study
(e.g., Dabone&Tawiah, 2014) results found that the younger ones were
significantly more dissatisfied with their marriage than the older ones.
The researcher identified that some studies were in contrast to the stand
point of this study. A study of Katz’s (2001) on nonfiction children and
youth divorce emotions stated that there is no significant difference
between young and old people with regards to their marital satisfaction.
Conclusion
The present study entitled as marital satisfaction and communication
among couples was conducted in 50 wives and 50 husbands of
Kannur district of Kerala. The study revealed that, the interpersonal
communication skills are necessary for making good relationship
bond between the partners. There also existed no statistical significant
difference in gender, age and years of marriage on the study variables
among couples.

43
Marital Satisfaction and Communication Skills among Married Couples
Implication
Since, the study points out the necessity of interpersonal communication
for a strong marital relation, it is important to provide communication
training to the couple before they get married which can promote
couples marital satisfaction and life quality, and it is one of the main
prevention programs in the initial levels.
For the purpose of the same, respected authorities such as family
counselors, educators and other governing bodies have to take
necessary steps forenhancing the couple to make a strong bond for the
better family functioning and social well-being.
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* * *
Received on 3.4.2017 and accepted on 5.5.2017