The Relationship between Intimacy and Marital Satisfaction in Christian Couples

Current literature suggests that a connection exists between intimacy and marital satisfaction; however, much of the research has only focused on non-Christian marriages and sexual intimacy. There is little research that proves how the various types of intimacy and marital satisfaction are related within Christian couples. This quantitative study examined the predictive relationship between intimacy and marital satisfaction in Christian adults. The research focused on the following main research question: (1) Do the six sub-scales of marital intimacy (emotional intimacy, social intimacy, physical intimacy, intellectual intimacy, recreational intimacy, and spiritual intimacy) collectively predict marital satisfaction in Christian couples? It was hypothesized that (1) The six sub-scales of marital intimacy (emotional intimacy, social intimacy, physical intimacy, intellectual intimacy, recreational intimacy, and spiritual intimacy) collectively predict marital satisfaction in Christian couples. Results of this study showed that the six sub-scales of intimacy collectively predicted marital satisfaction. Additionally, results showed that one of the sub-scales, emotional intimacy, individually predicted marital satisfaction.