A Study on Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Among Married People

Upasana Sharma; Dr. Zuby Hasan

doi:aajmha-8.2.203

Research Article - Journal of Mental Health and Aging (2024) Volume 8, Issue 3

A Study on Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Among Married People

Upasana Sharma^1*, Dr. Zuby Hasan²

¹Student of Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences (AIPS), Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India

²Associate professor, Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences, Noida, India

*Corresponding Author:: Upasana Sharma
Student of Amity Institute of Psychology and Allied Sciences (AIPS)
Amity University, Uttar Pradesh, India
E-mail: sharmaupasana900@gmail.com

Received: 09-May-2024, Manuscript No. AAJMHA-24-132424; Editor assigned: 13- May -2024, Pre QC No. AAJMHA-24-132424 (PQ); Reviewed: 25- May -2024, QC No. AAJMHA-24-132424; Revised: 28- May -2024, Manuscript No. AAJMHA-24-132424 (R); Published: 31- May -2024, DOI: 10.35841/aajmha-8.3.203

Citation: Sharma U & Hasan Z. A study on communication and relationship satisfaction among married people. J Ment Health Aging. 2024; 8(3)203

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Keywords

Communication, Relationship Satisfaction, Married people, Couples.

Introduction

Communication

It has long been believed that communication has a significant role in how satisfied partners are with their relationships, but there are still unanswered concerns about the source and impact of these links. Having the ability to communicate well, particularly when it comes to challenges, is seen by many as the most crucial aspect of a strong relationship. A complex web of societal norms and characteristics shapes the dimensions and interconnectedness of a couple's communication skills, which in turn shapes other aspects of intimate relationships.

Effectiveness in communicating leads to excellent stimuli control over conduct, which amplifies the benefits and joys of connection. Unambiguously a couple's capacity to distinguish between different behavioral occurrences, to demonstrate understanding, and to provide support is improved via communication. The key to their degree of comfort in a relationship is their ability to communicate effectively and their importance in a long-term partnership. The foundation of developing interpersonal connections is communication, which is applicable and essential. These relationships are woven together via regular interactions. Effective communication promotes greater physical and mental health as well as enhanced social performance and improved relationship quality under challenging circumstances. Beyond genuine love, honesty, and trust as well as communication in a marriage, maintaining a marriage and creating a happy family are essential. The secret to every good and long-lasting marriage is effective communication. In a marriage, effective communication results in enhanced closeness and mutual understanding between partners. Make sure your lover knows how much you adore them.

According to relationship science, over time, a couple's contentment with their relationship was predicted by the quality of their communication. Couple dynamics were also theorized at the within-person level, while the majority of research examining these connections have focused on between-person associations. It was assumed that poor communication between a couple will lead to future declines in relationship satisfaction. In three long-term research, we looked at relationships within couples between communication and satisfaction. Certain within-person correlations between future changes in satisfaction and aberrations in negative communication seemed to be lagging across studies (and vice versa). The strongest conclusion, however, was related to concurrent within-person relationships between negative communication and satisfaction: couples who occasionally had lower levels of negative communication also reported higher levels of relationship satisfaction than normal. Relationships and positive communication were seldom linked to satisfaction on an individual basis. The above findings suggest that rather than being a predictor of relationship satisfaction, within-person variations in negative communication mostly correlate with it.

The effects of good communication in marriage were investigated in this study. The exchange of ideas and interaction between individuals or groups of people is considered communication. Good communication skills in marriage are thought to have a favorable correlation with marital satisfaction and to be quite important to contented married couples. Couples' closeness and understanding also improve as a result of it. An essential component of interactions in marriages and relationships is communication. According to the study's findings, marriage is a socially and legally recognized relationship that is typically between a man and a woman. It is regulated by laws, norms, conventions, beliefs, and attitudes that specify the rights and obligations of the spouses as well as the status of their children. Furthermore, the purpose of marriage is to unite a man and a woman as husband and wife, to be the parents of any offspring that their union bears. One of the study's recommendations was that couples should improve their connection by learning and using relational communication skills to each other in order to have a special and long-lasting marriage [1, 2].

The following are some significant advantages of communicating in marriage [1]:

1. Enhanced Marital Satisfaction: A joyful and tranquil relationship is more likely to occur if you and your spouse have established efficient communication. Improved communication between partners leads to increased pleasure and less arguments or disputes since you can talk about

2. Enhanced Honesty, Respect, and Trust: Marriage is a two-way relationship. You can't just keep expecting without contributing. Therefore, it helps to improve trust in a relationship if you are honest with your spouse, offer and accept good comments, and communicate other difficulties with them in an entirely honest manner [3].

3. Improved Mutual Understanding: Regular communication, life discussions, and conversation between partners helps to fortify their link and improves their mutual understanding of one another. There will be less room for miscommunication or uncertainty if you are aware of your spouse's circumstances and how they are

4. Improved Connection: Expressing your sentiments and emotions to your partner may be done through We are aware that verbally expressing your love and devotion for your spouse is not necessary. But speaking up and being expressive is one of the finest methods of expressing your feelings to your partner, which might improve your relationship [4].

The following are some levels of communicating in marriage [1]:

Levels of Communications in Marriage

1. Peak communication: At this level, genuine and profound partnerships take place. When you are emotionally transparent and truthful with the other person, you will have the best communication experiences. Powell asserts that in the human state. This is not a situation that will last forever [5]. These are the times when flawless communication should and will be achieved in an interaction. During these moments, both parties will experience near-perfect empathy for one

2. My opinions and ideas: Couples exchange ideas, views, and choices at this level of But communication is still reserved.

3. Expressing and hearing one another's needs: Similar to level four, couples that employ this degree of communication in their marriage have a genuine trusting relationship, which enables them to actively hear one another's needs and realize that they have heard them and comprehended It's really wonderful to converse at this level.

4. My Feelings (Emotion): This communication level expresses your innermost thoughts and feelings regarding a circumstance, person, or event. Emotions belong to each individual, and it might be difficult to share them with another. As stated by (Powell, 2009) states that the majority of us believe that others won't accept such openness about our emotions in conversation [5]. We prefer to justify our dishonesty by claiming that it could harm other people, and after elevating our deceit to a noble status, we settle for connections that are really surface-level.

5. Cliched conversation: This is when exchanges consist only of pleasantries or other Though there could be requests to "pass the salt" or "who is picking up the kids?" nothing extraneous has to be mentioned.

Relationship Satisfaction

Relationship satisfaction is the most researched thing within the examination of couple relationships. Very extensively, it refers to a person’s typical evaluation of his or her dating. This might also entail, for instance, the diploma to which one’s wishes and goals for romance, guide, and security or one’s expectations are met. Humans are characterized by an essential need to belong. This need has evolved because it facilitates duplication and survival, motivating people to keep extraordinary varieties of close relationships at some point of their lives, which includes relationships with pals, kin, and offspring [6].

Lavner et al., did study on Does Couples’ Communication Predict Marital Satisfaction, or Does Marital Satisfaction Predict Communication? It is often believed that the degree of communication between couples influences their assessments of relationship happiness in the future [7]. However, this assumption was seldom compared to the opposing theory, which holded that communication is just a result of the spouses' previous satisfaction levels. In order to assess these viewpoints, four separate observations of newlyweds' efficacy, negativity, and positivity were made at intervals of nine months, and these actions were compared to matching self-reports of relationship happiness. Cross-sectionally, more contented spouses communicated more effectively and positively than negatively. While raising new questions about other factors that might predict communication and satisfaction and that strengthen or moderate their association, these findings cast serious doubt on theories and interventions that prioritize couple communication skills as the primary predictor of relationship satisfaction [8].

Haris & Kumar did a study on Marital Satisfaction and the couples' Communication patterns were significantly correlated with their level of marital happiness. Cultural differences exist in the ways that spouses communicate [9]. The goal of the current study was to determine how married couples' communication abilities and marital satisfaction relate to one another. The couples completed the Communication Inventory. According to related research, marriage satisfaction may be predicted by a couple's interpersonal contacts with one another. The results of the study emphasized how demographic characteristics, such as gender, affect marital pleasure. Couples, family counselors, and educators should take note of the study's findings.

Apart from quantity of communication, quality of that communication is also related to relationship satisfaction [10]. Past research has investigated whether improving quality of the communication with a communication-based therapy would improve relationship satisfaction. Sevier et al., found that couples that received communication counseling showed significant improvement in communication and in relationship satisfaction [11].

Couples looking to strengthen their bond and experience more sexual fulfillment are frequently enrolled in relationship education courses. He looked at the mediating functions of communication and trust between marital education programmes and relationship and sexual fulfillment. Data from the Couple Relationships and Transition Experiences (CREATE) research, a longitudinal study of recently wed couples that was nationally representative, were used in this investigation. Although the current study did not discover a substantial correlation between relationship and sexual pleasure and marriage preparation, it does not rule out the chance that a link might exist despite some of the study's flaws. Significant correlations between trust and communication, as well as between relationships and sexual pleasure, were found in this study [12,13].

To ascertain whether the theories put out in this study can be supported, more research will be required.

The purpose of this study was to examine married couples' effective communication techniques for establishing and preserving solid pair bonds. The study's findings had a significant impact on couple communication as they set the groundwork for their relationship toolkit and incorporate theory. The majority of theories described how the models controlling couples' performance obligations and expectations for self-disclosure influenced the change in behavior. It seems that these elements have influenced the evolution of theory to eliminate attempts to exert influence, promoted successful work, and gave partners a sense of respect and effectiveness. Although the process of adaptation and adjustment necessitated ongoing responsibility negotiation, there will still be conflict in the relationship as well as constant requests and instructions. Developing and accessing quality raised new concerns about other variables that could predict relationship satisfaction while grounding a significant theory and therapies that emphasized couple communication skills as the primary predictor of bolster or temper their relationship. The results of these studies provided evidence for the theory that couples' interpersonal communication abilities might predict how satisfied they would be with their marriage based on their grasp of the interaction and transactional processes that occur in a relationship [14].

Objective

The correlation between communication and relationship satisfaction has been addressed in terms of how and why communication is important in a relationship and what is the role of communication and how it affects the relationship. For every successful relationship there are various factors behind that. Among all factors, the most important factor here is communication. Various studies have been conducted about trust, understanding, etc. All these factors are somehow linked with relationship satisfaction. Therefore, it becomes necessary to understand more about the correlation between communication and relationship satisfaction among married people. Since, the literature is scant on this topic, the current study will show how there is a relationship between communication and relationship satisfaction among married people [15 ,16].

Methods

Participants

There were a total 110 participants with the age range of above 18 years across Delhi NCR. Convenient sampling has been used for data collection. Participants must be at least graduated. Each member of the population has an equal chance of being selected.

Inclusion criteria were:

1. You are aged above 18 years

2. You are in a marital relationship

3. Marriage duration must be for 6 months or more than that.

Exclusion criteria were:

1. You are aged below 18 years

2. You are not in a marital relationship

3. Marriage duration is less than 6 months.

Measures

For measuring communication of the subject “Dyadic Communication Assessment Scale” was used.

Dyadic Communication Assessment Scale

The Dyadic Communication Assessment Scale (DCAS) was designed to assess the quality of communication among dyads – married persons as well as partners who are involved in close relationships. The DCAS has five response options ranging from Rarely (1) to Always (5). Items that represent ineffective communication are reversed during scoring. Examples of items in the scale are: “My partner listens attentively regardless of her/his other engagements”, “We discuss what happens at home”. The items in the scale were obtained from literature on communication, and based on the authors’ knowledge of effective communication. It was designed to assess the quality of communication among dyads who are involved in close relationships. It consists of 16 items.

For measuring relationship satisfaction of the subject “The Couple Satisfaction Index” was used.

The Couple Satisfaction Index (CSI)

A 32-item scale designed to measure one’s satisfaction in a relationship. The scale has a variety of items with different response scales and formats. The authors have also specified that the scale safely be shrunk to either a 16-item format or even a 4-item format depending on a researcher’s needs.

Data Analysis

The result of the present study was computed with the help of a statistical package for social sciences version 16 – SPSS 16.

Results

The descriptive data(N=110) can be observed from the table 1 above, for communication scale (M=53.2, SD=8.93) and for relationship satisfaction scale (M= 58.9, SD= 16.5) (Table 1).

	Comm	RS
N	110	110
Mean	53.2	58.9
Standard deviation	8.93	16.5

Table 1: Descriptive Analysis of Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Among Married People.

From table 2, it was found that correlation of communication and relationship satisfaction is statistically significant (r = .431) based on (N=110) and hence shows a significantly positive correlation at 0.001 level. It shows moderate correlation at .43 (Table 2).

		Comm	RS
Comm	Pearson's r	—
	df	—
	p-value	—
	N	—
RS	Pearson's r	0.431	***	—
	df	108		—
	p-value	< .001		—
	N	110		—

Note. H_a is positive correlation
Note. * p < .05, ** p < .01, *** p < .001, one-tailed

Table 2: Correlation Analysis of Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Among Married People

Discussion and Conclusion

The goal of the present study was to expand the existing literature by examining the relationship between communication and relationship satisfaction among married people. The current findings extend the contextual background provided in previous similar studies to a sample of emerging adults. However, the current study is one of the first ones to examine direct relationship between communication and relationship satisfaction.

The results depict that correlation of communication and relationship satisfaction is statistically significant (r= .431) based on (N=110) and hence shows a significantly positive correlation at

0.001 level. It shows moderate correlation at .431.

The descriptive data(N=110) can be observed from the table 1 above, for communication scale (M=53.2, SD=8.93) and for relationship satisfaction scale (M= 58.9, SD= 16.5).

The result shows positive correlation between communication and romantic relationship satisfaction. It basically denotes that if communication is more, then an individual tends to have more relationship satisfaction and vice versa.

The current study was conducted to find the relationship between communication and relationship satisfaction among married people. Communication is defined as the transfer of information from one person to another person. It allows us to explain to someone else what you are experiencing and what your needs are. It is a specific learned action that is very important in maintaining a marriage or relationship and a component used to reinforce relationship bonds.

The existing literature supports the idea that couple’s communication can have a significant relation with satisfaction in their relationship. Previous research reports communication efficiency is linked to relationship satisfaction in dating couples. The speed, or efficiency, in which people communicate was linked to positive interpersonal outcomes. Multilevel models demonstrated that both task efficiency and self-reported problem-solving communication skills were associated with relationship satisfaction. Results suggest that communication task efficiency can be meaningfully applied to the study of romantic relationships and couple communication skills. A sample was collected from 110 people across Delhi NCR who are communication and relationship satisfaction. The results were found through correlation. Overall, the current results provide additional information of the interaction among the variables and shows that the relationship between communication and relationship satisfaction was significant. This means that communication have effect on an individuals’ satisfaction in married relationship. Future directions include changes to the study design including a longitudinal design, or the inclusion of additional variables to help better understand the relationships.

Limitations

This study has some limitations that should be considered when interpreting the findings. The first concern is the use of only questionnaires tools for deducing communication and romantic relationship satisfaction. Various surveys and interviews can also be taken. The second limitation of this study is that variables other than those considered may be relevant when studying this link. For example, trust, self-esteem, understanding, honesty, intimacy, etc. can also be studied. The third limitation of this study is not taking gender differences into the consideration due to time constraints. Last limitation of this study is less sample size, only 110 subjects are involved. More sample size could also have been taken to expand the results.