MEDIATING ROLE OF PERCEIVED CRITICISM IN PREDICTING MARITAL SATISFACTION FROM EMOTIONAL GRANULARITY

Abstract

The current research was carried out to find the relationship of emotional granularity, perceived criticism and marital satisfaction among couples. Sample comprised of individuals who were couples (44 men, 44 women) and were selected by using purposive sampling technique from Islamabad. All the participants were educated. The inclusion criterion states that they must have at least one child. Exclusion criterion states that the newly married couples whose duration of marriage is less than 1 year will not be part of this study. The average wedded life duration of sample ranges between 1.5 and 30 years of marriage. Along with demographic sheet, standardized images from the Open Affective Standardized Image Set (OASIS), Positive and Negative Affect Schedule (PANAS), Level of Expressed Emotion Scale-criticism items (LEE), Urdu translated version of ENRICH Couple scale were administered in this research. Correlation and mediation analysis were computed to examine the relation between variables. This study found that the couples having low emotional granularity rate were low on marital satisfaction and perceived their partner’s comments as a criticism. They rate higher on perceived criticism from their partner thus scoring low on marital satisfaction. Mediation analysis was also done to find the mediating role of study variables on marital satisfaction. Results indicated that total effect of negative affect on marital satisfaction is significant. The research offers a general pragmatic substantiation and speculative understanding about the role of perceived criticism in prediction of marital satisfaction from emotional granularity. It unlocks novel facets for marital literature. The outcomes of the existing study augment the understanding amid partners and therapists to guide couples who are struggling for more contentment in life.