Comparison of Irrational Beliefs, Self-concept, and Spiritual Well-being in Women with a History of Divorce and Normalcy

The present study aimed to compare irrational beliefs, self-concept, and spiritual well-being in divorced and normal women. This research was causal-comparative. The statistical population was all divorced women covered by the welfare organization and ordinary women of Shiraz city. The sample group consisted of 120 people in two groups (60 divorced women and 60 normal women). The available sampling method was used to determine the sample size in the group of divorced women. The purposeful method was used for normal women to compare the group of normal women with divorced women. Jones' irrational beliefs questionnaire, Rogers' self-concept questionnaire, Polotzin's and Ellison's spiritual well-being questionnaire, were analyzed. The collected data were evaluated at two levels (descriptive statistics and inferential statistics). At the level of statistics, mean and standard deviation were used, and at the level of inferential statistics, multivariate analysis of variance has used. The result showed that there is a significant difference between irrational beliefs, self-concept, and spiritual well-being in divorced and normal women. Irrational beliefs in women with a history of divorce are higher than in normal women, and the mean of self-concept variables and spiritual well-being in women with a history of divorce is lower than in normal women. The average of irrational beliefs and their dimensions (including helplessness against change, the expectation of approval from others, problem avoidance, and emotional irresponsibility) are higher in women with a history of divorce than in normal women. There is a significant difference between self-concept in women with a history of divorce and normal women. The average spiritual well-being and its dimensions (existential health and religious health) are lower in women with a history of divorce than in normal women. Based on the results, on the need to pay attention to the irrational beliefs of self-concept and spiritual well-being, it is suggested that these structures be implemented in pre-marriage training classes to prevent the occurrence of problems and increase people's awareness of the role of these variables in joint life.