Marital Satisfaction and Attachment Style: The Mediating Role of Emotional Intelligence and Religious Commitment

Denise Dos Santos Moitinho

Research output: Other contribution

Abstract

Most couples enter marriage hoping to experience happiness and satisfaction. This study acknowledges that spouses bring their worldviews, personalities, behaviors, and emotions to the marriage relationship, and for this reason, this study investigates the connection between marital satisfaction and attachment style as mediated by emotional intelligence and religious commitment in a sample of heterosexual married Christian individuals living in the United States. This quantitative, non-experimental, survey-based research analyzes data collected through Amazon Mechanical Turk from 530 married individuals to understand the relationship between variables affecting marital satisfaction. Results from Pearson’s correlation analyses show a significant relationship between attachment style subscales (avoidance and anxiety) and marital satisfaction (p < .05). Additionally, a comprehensive mediation analysis shows that the attachment style subscales of avoidance and anxiety in the mother and father relationship have an indirect effect on marital satisfaction through both emotional intelligence and religious commitment. Thus, future studies need to consider marriage relationship dynamics, spouses’ management of emotions, and the protective role of religion in the marriage relationship.

Original languageUndefined/Unknown
StatePublished - Dec 19 2022
Externally publishedYes

Publication series

NameDoctoral Dissertations and Projects

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