Comparing the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment-based therapy (ACT) and schema-based therapy in increasing cultural values and conflict resolution styles in working women

Marriage is the prelude to family formation and has always been recognized as the highest social custom to achieve the emotional and security needs of adults. Despite the fact that a satisfactory marriage is considered one of the important factors of the mental health of the society, if marriage and family life create inappropriate conditions and dissatisfaction of the couple to satisfy each other's psychological needs, it leaves negative and sometimes irreparable effects (1). One of the biggest social problems in the current human society is family conflicts; Therefore, addressing the issue of marital conflict in order to achieve prevention strategies is one of the most important needs of family education (2).The prevalence of divorce in the country, the increase of marital problems at the beginning of marriage and the existence of few studies in Iran and the world in the field of the effectiveness of the proposed approaches make it necessary to compare these interventions. Also, choosing an effective treatment approach can give therapists and family and couple therapy the right direction. Therefore, this research aims to compare the effectiveness of acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) and therapy based on schema mentality in increasing cultural values and conflict resolution styles in working women. The results of this research and the solutions provided can be used in counseling and psychotherapy centers, education and divorce prevention centers, marriage and family centers, spouse selection centers and other similar centers.

In terms of the purpose of this research, it was in the applied research group and in terms of the research design, it was a semi-experimental type of pre-test and post-test with a control group. The statistical population of this research was made up of all women working in Iran Khodro Industrial Group companies in 1400. From this society, 45 women working in the companies of Iran Khodro Industrial Group in 1400 were selected purposefully. First, the 36-question quality of life questionnaire (SF-36) was distributed among working women; Then the women who got a low score from the marital quality questionnaire (the lowest score that any person can get is 26 and the highest score is 130) were identified and randomly divided into three control groups (15 people) and an experiment based on schema mentality (15 people) and acceptance and commitment-based therapy (15 people) were included; The number of sample people was 45 people, each of the groups included 15 people. The criteria for entering the research are female employees working in Iran Khodro Industrial Group companies, having a low quality of life, having minimal literacy and writing, not suffering from acute psychiatric diseases (based on the question about psychiatric records); The criteria for leaving the study were absence of more than two sessions and taking psychiatric pills. The implementation method was to first identify women who are dissatisfied with the quality of their married life, then they answered the research questionnaires (cultural values and conflict resolution styles) and the people who scored high in these questionnaires were used as samples. research were selected.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) has an effect on the conflict resolution styles of working women, so it is suggested that family, marriage and divorce counselors consider the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Approaches (ACT) and schema mentality therapy In solving marital conflicts, they should use these approaches more in their counseling centers.

Treatment based on acceptance and commitment is a more effective method for increasing cultural vales in working women compared to treatment based on schema mentality. In line with the findings of the current research and based on the main components of treatment, Knapp, Norton and Standberg (2015) and Van Chui and Murdock (2017), Stroud et al. (2010), Hudson et al. (2014), Epstein et al. (2017) and Bagaroozi (34) have emphasized. In addition, Bahagra and DeSilva (35) believe that educational and psychological strategies are two key strategies to help couples with intercultural marriages and encourage therapists to use problem-solving techniques to accept cultural differences. In addition to the mentioned contents, according to the findings of Seshadri and Knadson-Martin (36), paying attention to cultural dynamics in intercultural marriages can reduce conflicts between couples. In addition, treatment based on acceptance and commitment to cultural values by increasing gender flexibility, respecting the spouse's culture, recognizing differences, changing the cultural framework and expanding the values and expectations and general understanding of other cultures, reduces stress between It is culturally effective. In therapy based on commitment and acceptance, the goal is for people to learn not to judge and accept their inner events, especially the ones they don't want. Treatment based on commitment and acceptance seeks to teach clients how to get rid of the thought content, how not to try to get rid of it, not to stick to their life story, to live in the present instead of the conceptualized past and future, and the result of all These are to identify values and goals and believe in them. In simpler words, in this therapy, couples learn to serve life and values instead of serving thoughts and feelings and change their lifestyle to increase its quality. Due to the lack of emphasis on cognitive reconstruction and change of thoughts, this therapy emphasizes acceptance instead, and since cultural values are an important component in marital relationships, this therapy can improve beliefs and marital relationships in couples. In therapy based on acceptance and commitment, it can create the recognition in the individual that cultural differences are just differences and do not indicate contradictions or indicators of pathology. This issue causes people to avoid stereotypes and change their ethnic thinking. In addition, it causes people to learn about their values, cultural background and worldview. This issue affects their intercultural abilities and skills in their interactions with people of different cultures (37), it also raises people's cultural awareness and teaches people to express their cultural approaches and views. and increase their cultural tolerance.