M.A. / This study set out to investigate the relationship between Emotional Intelligence and martial satisfaction. In the past several years, marriages appear to have undergone much change, moving towards a more egalitarian relationship. Intimacy and conflict resolution appear to play an important role in maintaining marital satisfaction. Skills involved in conflict resolution and intimacy also form part of a greater construct called Emotional Intelligence (EI). Mayer, Salovey, and Caruso (1998), describe a four branch ability model of EI. This model describes EI as the ability to be perceptive of ones own and others emotions, to manage and regulate ones emotions, to be able to effectively express ones emotions and lastly, the ability to use stored emotional information to deal with various situations. To ascertain levels of emotional intelligence and marital satisfaction the Schutte Self Report Inventory (SRI) and the Marital Satisfaction Inventory–Revised (MSI-R) was administered to a group of couples married for longer than one year (n = 61). MANCOVA’s and ANCOVA’s were administered to asses the relationship between EI and various sub-scales of marital satisfaction in the couples. The results showed that there was significant relationship between EI and certain aspects of marital satisfaction. The level of male EI was found to have a significant effect on the couples affective and problem solving communication. It also effected the level of female sexual satisfaction and the ability to cope with family history of distress. The female EI was found to be related to decreased levels of male aggression, a greater ability to deal with her family history of distress and role orientation. It was found that in most circumstances, the level of male EI was responsible for couple’s marital satisfaction. Further results indicate that the greater the gap between each partners level of EI, the greater their level of marital dissatisfaction. For future research, it may be beneficial to do a longitudinal study of the same nature using a larger sample. Measuring instruments that do not rely on self-report may produce other results. Finally, future studies may benefit by using a culturally diverse sample, to assess whether the finding may be generalised to all communities in South Africa.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uj/uj:13878 |
| Date | 31 October 2008 |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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