The effectiveness of strength-based counseling on the tendency toward marital infidelity and self-compassion of conflicted couples

It is natural for differences and conflicts to arise between husband and wife. Due to the nature of spouses' activities, it sometimes happens that differences of opinion occur or needs are not met; As a result, spouses feel angry, disappointed and unhappy towards each other. The current research aimed to determine the effectiveness of strength-based counseling on the tendency toward marital infidelity and self-compassion of conflicted couples.

In terms of purpose, the current research was of the applied type and the method of conducting it was quasi-experimental with a pre-test and post-test design with an experimental group and a control group and a three-month follow-up period. The statistical population of the research included all couples referring to a private counseling center in District 10 of Tehran. For sampling, 30 couples were selected and randomly assigned to two experimental groups (15 couples) and a control group (15 couples) using the available sampling method. In this research, the strength-based counseling package compiled by Parsakia & Darbani (2022) was used. Also, in order to collect data, Neff's self-compassion questionnaire (2003) and Bashirpour et al.'s marital infidelity questionnaire (2018) were used.

The results of data analysis showed that strength-based counseling significantly increased self-compassion scores (F = 13.08) and decreased the scores of the tendency toward marital infidelity of the experimental group (F = 9.52). Also, Bonferroni's post hoc test results indicated good stability of these effects.

Therefore, the strength-based approach can increase the self-compassion of conflicted couples and decrease their tendency toward commit marital infidelity.