Predicting of Marital Commitment Based on Couples' Conflict Resolution Styles, Self-Compassion and Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs

Successful marriage has positive effects on the well-being of individuals, and marital commitment is one of the key component of successful marriage. This study aimed to predict marital commitment based on couples' conflict resolution styles, self-compassion, and satisfaction of basic psychological needs. This research was a descriptive- correlational survey. The statistical population consisted of all married employees of Shiraz University in the academic year of 2019-2020, and 211 married employees (117 women and 94 men) were selected by single-stage cluster sampling method. Research tools contained the Marital Commitment Questionnaire (Adams & Jones, 1997), Rahim Conflict Resolution Styles Questionnaire (Rahim, 1983), the Self-compassion Scale (Neff, 2003b), Basic Needs Satisfaction in General Scale (Gagné, 2003) and the Basic Needs Satisfaction in Relationships Scale (La Guardia, Ryan, Couchman & Deci, 2000). The obtained data were analyzed by Pearson correlation coefficient and multiple regression analysis. The results showed that satisfaction of basic needs at general scale, non-constructive conflict resolution styles, self-compassion, constructive conflict resolution styles, and satisfaction of basic needs in relation to spouse ranked respectively based on their power in predicting marital commitment among the research variables. These variables predict 40% of the variance of marital commitment. These findings suggest that marital commitment rises with an increase in satisfaction of basic psychological needs at the general scale and in relation to the spouse, constructive conflict resolution styles, self-compassion, and a decrease in non-constructive conflict resolution styles. This study has considerable implications for developing premarital educational programs, couple empowerment and couple therapy interventions.