Examining the Tolerance Model with Islamic approach in the context of marital life

situations in which spouses’ interests and needs are different are unavoidable. Yet, the ability to manage differences constructively assists couples establish intimate relationships. In an Islamic culture, tolerance is defined as the best way of dealing with differences in human relationships. The current research aimed to predict marital intimacy based on an Islamic model in spouses’ relations. A total of 240 married couples (118 women and 122 men) participated in the study and filled out the Tolerance in Spouses` Relationships Scale (TSRS) and the Intimacy Scale (IS). The results of the research showed significantly positive correlations among the four components of tolerance (spouse`s empathy and acceptance, emotional control and patience, facilitation of spouse's growth and actuation process, and beneficence and forgiveness toward spouse), its total score and marital intimacy. Also, the results revealed that spouse`s empathy and acceptance as well as the beneficence and forgiveness toward spouse could predict marital intimacy more than other components. The remaining variables, emotional control and patience, and facilitation of spouse`s growth and actualization process were excluded from the regression model because of overlapping with other predictor variables. According to the results of the research, one can conclude that tolerance with an Islamic approach plays a determining role in predicting marital intimacy. The findings of the present research can be used by specialists and family therapists.