The Role of Empathy and Marital Satisfaction in Shaping Marital Success
Abstrakt
Objective of the study: At each stage of development, professionally, each spouse takes on new social roles and meets new challenges. The work aimed to examine the roles of empathy and marital satisfaction in shaping marital success among Polish people. Method: The study involved 40 women and 40 men who had been married for approximately 5 and 15 years, respectively. All respondents were born and raised in Poland. The following research tools were used: the Empathic Sensitivity Scale (ESS), the Matched Marriage Questionnaire (KDM), and the Successful Marriage Scale (SPM). Results: People with long marital experience scored higher on marital satisfaction factors than those with short marital experience. Conversely, individuals with short marital experience scored higher on the marital success factor than those with long marital experience. In couples with short marital experience, marital experience factors were found to be more strongly associated with marital success than in couples with long marital experience. In both marriage groups, empathetic concern had a direct negative impact on various aspects of marital satisfaction. Similarly, disappointment, which played a mediating role, had a significant negative impact on marital success in both groups. Furthermore, in both groups, perspective-taking had a direct impact on intimacy and disappointment, with both variables having a direct impact on marital success. Conclusions: The analysis of this research may have practical value for married couples, psychologists, couple psychotherapists, and researchers. It may encourage researchers to conduct further research in the field of empathy, marital satisfaction, and marital success. Unconfirmed hypotheses allow for a critical look at selected research groups and the formulation of new research hypotheses.
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