Comparison of Self-Determination in Marital Relationship, Commitment to Spouse and Marital Satisfaction in Married Men and Women Without and With Conflict Referring to Counseling Centers

The purpose of this study was to compare self-determination in marital relationships, commitment to spouse, and marital satisfaction in married men and women without and with conflict referring to counseling centers. So, a sample of married men and women with conflict referred to counseling centers (85 people: 59 women and 25 men) and non-conflict married men and women (97 people: 56 women and 41 men) were participated voluntarily and completed the Basic Psychological Need Scale (BPNS) by Sheldon et al. (2001), Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale by Schumm et al. (1983), Marital Commitment Scale by Adams & Jones (1997). The results of this study showed that the distress group in comparison with the non-conflicting people reported lower scores in autonomy, competence, relatedness, marital commitment, and marital satisfaction (p< .01). The results also showed that men generally achieved higher scores in marital commitment and marital satisfaction than women (p< .01). To test the interactional effect of gender and conflict, the results showed that women in the non-conflict group had higher scores of incompetency and relatedness (p< .05). Unresolved conflicts in marital relationships decrease the couple’s ability to self-determination in the relationship, decrease marital commitment, and marital satisfaction. Enriching couples’ relationships by increasing self-determination in dyadic relationships lead to increased commitment and marital satisfaction.