Mediating role of emotional expressivness in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction

Document Type : Research/Original/Regular

Authors

1 Master of Family Counseling, Kharazmi University. Tehran. Iran

2 Assistant Professor, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction with the mediating role of emotional expression.The research method is descriptive-correlational. The statistical population of the study consisted of all married female teachers in Asadabad in the school year of 2019-2020. 300 were selected as the statistical sample of the study through available sampling method. Data were collected using the Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire 1989), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies Questionnaire (2001), and King and Emmons Emotional Expression Questionnaire 1990). In data analysis, in addition to using descriptive statistics Inferential statistics section was analyzed using AMOS software. The results indicated that there is a significant relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and emotional expressiveness with marital satisfaction (P<0.01). On the other hand, emotional expression plays a mediating role in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction. The results also showed that cognitive emotion regulation strategies directly and indirectly influence marital satisfaction. And the effect of cognitive emotion regulation strategies on emotional arousal and emotional arousal on marital satisfaction is only direct. Therefore, considering the importance of marital satisfaction in married life and self-determination, cognitive strategies of emotion regulation and emotional expression are necessary to inform and inform people about cognitive strategies of emotional regulation and emotional adjustment.

Highlights

Background & Purpose

 Marital satisfaction can be defined as the compatibility between a person's expectations of married life and her experiences in life, or in other words, the compatibility between the current situation and the expected situation. the purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction with the mediating role of emotional expression.

Method

The research method is descriptive-correlational. In this study, cognitive strategies of emotion regulation and emotional expression were considered as independent variables (predictors), and marital satisfaction was considered as a dependent variable (criteria). The population consisted of all married female teachers in Asadabad between 2018 to 2019. Three hundred people were selected as the sample by convenience sampling method, and 300 questionnaires were distributed. Finally, 282 questionnaires were received to analyze the data. Enrich Marital Satisfaction (1989), Cognitive Emotion Regulation Strategies (Garnfsky et al. , 2001), Emotional Expression (King and Emmons, 1990) were used for data collection. This study used frequency, mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum score, and correlation coefficient to analyze the data. Also, the Shapiro-Wilk test was used for examining the normality of data. In the inferential statistics section, the structural equation modeling (path analysis) and fit indices were used, which gave us accurate and pure information by removing the relationship errors between the variables. Data analysis was performed using AMOS software. Direct and indirect effects have also been reported in this study.

Result

The results showed that on the one hand, a negative and significant correlation between maladaptive strategies and marital satisfaction (r=-0. 17, P<0. 05) and a positive and significant correlation between adaptive strategies and marital satisfaction (r=0. 80, P<0. 05) and There was a correlation between emotional expression and marital satisfaction (r=0. 67) (p <0. 01). On the other hand, emotional expression plays a mediating role in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction. Also, the results showed that cognitive emotion regulation strategies directly affect emotional expression and emotional expression has a similar effect on marital satisfaction. Adaptive strategies (r=0. 71, P<0. 05) and maladaptive strategies (r=-0. 46, P<0. 05) directly affect emotional expression; Emotional expression (r=0. 68, P<0. 05) has a direct effect on marital satisfaction, and Adaptive strategies (r=0. 41, P<0. 05) and maladaptive strategies (r=-0. 34, P<0. 05) directly affect marital satisfaction.

 

 Table1 - Mean, standard deviation and correlation of research variables

Variable

Mean

Standard
Deviation

1

2

3

4

Uncompromised Strategies

54. 13

17. 03

1

     

Compromised Strategies

46. 48

17. 74

* -0. 15

1

   

Emotional Expression

45. 32

21. 15

* -0. 28

* 0. 72

1

 

Marital Satisfaction

106. 12

36. 84

* -0. 16

* 0. 80

* 0. 67

1

Conclusion

 According to the findings of this study, there is a significant positive relationship between adaptive cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction in female teachers (r=. 80). That is, female teachers who are used to applying these strategies have higher marital satisfaction than other female teachers who use these strategies less. On the other hand, there is a significant negative relationship between maladaptive strategies of female teachers' cognitive emotion regulation and marital satisfaction (r=-. 17). This means that female teachers who are accustomed to using these strategies have less marital satisfaction in their lives than other female teachers who use these strategies less. Since the ability to regulate emotion can determine a person's relationship quality, those who are are capable of regulating their emotions understand their own and others' emotions better. As a result, they have more developed interpersonal and intrapersonal skills (Lopez et al. , 2004). Individuals who have difficulty regulating emotion are unable to regain their emotional state, less able to maintain their relationship. They feel they are stuck in negative communication patterns with others, they feel out of control, so they have low marital satisfaction. (Amato, 1996). This factor is a key and determining factor in psychological well-being and effective individual functioning that plays a crucial role in adapting to stressful life events. It should be said that it affects the overall quality of life (Garnefski et al. , 2002). ). The results also showed a positive and significant correlation between positive expression and intimacy with marital satisfaction and a negative and significant correlation between negative expression and marital satisfaction in female teachers. This result suggested that by increasing positive emotional expression and intimacy in female teachers, their marital satisfaction increases. On the other hand, by increasing negative emotional expression, their marital satisfaction decreases. Emotionally efficient people recognize their feelings in the face of disturbance, understand their implicit meaning, and express their emotional states to others more effectively. Compared to those who lack the skills and ability to express their emotions, they are more successful in coping with negative experiences and show more adaptation to the environment and others (Golelman, 1995; Veld et al. , 2012). Therefore, the expression of emotions plays a significant role in happiness and the continuation of married life. Furthermore, people with high emotional expressions are more likely to effectively resolve problems and differences through precise and subtle conversations, make situations better, and show more empathy toward others. This factor increases their marital satisfaction and reduces burnout (Kiani et al. , 2016). Finally, another finding was the mediating effect of emotional expression on the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction in female teachers. Although to our knowledge, no research has been reported on the mediating role of emotional expression in the relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction, this finding is consistent with King and Ammons (1997) study, which showed that emotional expression as an essential mediating variable plays an influential role in reducing stress and illness (cited by Slavinskiene et al. , 2014). Adaptive strateg

Keywords

Main Subjects

Aldao, A. , Nolen-Hoeksema, S. , & Schweizer, S. (2010). Emotion- regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clinical Psychology Review, 30, 217-237. American Psychology, 56, 227-238. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. cpr. 2009. 11. 004 [Link]
Amato. P. R. (2005). Explaining The Intergenerational Transmission Of Divorce Journal of Marriage And The Family. 58, 628- 640. https://doi. org/10. 2307/353723 [Link]
Andami Khoshk, A. , (2014). The Mediating Role of Remorse in the Relationship Between Cognitive Emotion Regulation and Distress Tolerance with Life Satisfaction. Master Thesis. Allameh Tabatabaei University, Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Arab, Z. , Abdi, A. ,& Shaddel, H. , (2015). Investigating the role of work-family conflict in explaining the level of marital satisfaction of female teachers in Galikesh. First National Conference on Psychology and Educational Sciences, Shadegan, Islamic Azad University, Shadegan Branch. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Bahram Avat, K. , Rabiei, M. , Donyavi, V. & Nikfarjam, M. (2015). Comparison between emotion regulation and lifestyle strategies in couples with and without marital satisfaction in Sardasht. Journal of Nurse and Physician, 2(4), 124-130. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Buehler, C. (2013). Marital Satisfaction, Family Emotional Expressiveness, Home Learning Environments, and Children’s Emergent Literacy. Journal Marriage Fam, 75, 42-55. https://doi. org/10. 1111/j. 1741-3737. 2012. 01035. x [Link]
Chung, M. S. , (2014). Pathways between attachment and marital satisfaction: The mediating roles of rumination, empathy, and forgiveness. Journal of Personality and Individual Differences 70, 246–251. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. paid. 2014. 06. 032 [Link]
Costa, P. T. , & McCrae, R. R. (1992). Four ways five factors are basic. Personality and Individual Differences, 13(6), 653–665. https://doi. org/10. 1016/0191-8869(92)90236-I [Link]
de Veld, D. M. J. , Riksen-Walraven, J. M. , & de Weerth, C. (2012). The relation between emotion regulation strategies and physiological stress responses in middle childhood. Psychoneuroendocrinology, 37(8), 1309–1319. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. psyneuen. 2012. 01. 004‌ [Link]
Erfanifar, F. , Zarani, F. , & Shokri, O. , (2019). Emotional abuse and internalized disorders in adolescent girls: The mediating role of emotion regulation. Journal of Women and Family Studies. 6 (1), 93-108. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Erol Ongen, D. (2010). Cognitive emotion regulation in the prediction of depression and submissive behavior: Gender and grade level diffrences in Turkish adolescents. Procedia social and behaviourial. Sciences, 9, 1516-1523. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. sbspro. 2010. 12. 358 [Link]
Farahmand, S. , & Fooladcheng, M. , (2018). Causal explanation of academic vitality based on family communication patterns: The mediating role of emotional expression. Journal of Transformational Psychology. 13 (51), 257-269. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Farzadi, F. , Faramarzi, H. , Shahni Yilagh, M. , & Ghasemi, Z. , (2017). Relationship of perceived causal suffering with marital satisfaction through mediation, kindness, trust, justice, empathy and forgiveness. Journal of Women and Family Studies. 4(2), 77-100. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Froyen , L. C. , Skibbe L. E. , Bowles, R. P. , BLOW ,A. J. , GERDE , H. K. (2013). Marital Satisfaction, Family Emotional Expressiveness, Home Learning Environments, and Children’s Emergent Literacy. Journal of Marraige And Family 75, 42-55. https://doi. org/10. 1111/j. 1741-3737. 2012. 01035. x [Link]
Garnefski, N. Van Den Kommer, T. Kraaij, V. Teerds, J. Legerstee, J. , & Onstein, E. (2002). The relationship between cognitive emotion regulation strategies and emotional problems, Comparison between a clinical and nonclinical sample. European Journal of Personality, 16, 403–420. https://doi. org/10. 1002/per. 458 [Link]
Garnefski, N. , Boon, S. , & Kraaij, V. (2003). Relationships between cognitive strategies of adolescents and depressive symptomatology across different types of life event. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 32(6), 401-408. https://doi. org/10. 1023/A:1025994200559 [Link]
Garnefski, N. , kraaij, V. & Spinhoven, P. (2002). ”CERQ: manual for the use of the Cognitive Emotion Regulation Questionaire. Datec, Leiferdrop, the Netherlands. https://doi. org/10. 1027/1015-5759. 23. 3. 141 [Link]
Halberstadt, J. , Winkielman, P. , Niedenthal, P. M. , & Dalle, N. (2009). Emotional conception how embodied emotion concepts guide perception and facial action. Psychological Science, 20 (10), 1254-1261. https://doi. org/10. 1111/j. 1467-9280. 2009. 02432. x [Link]
Hassani, J. , Shahgholian, M, (2014). Emotional expressiveness, Emotional control, and Ambivalence over emotional expressiveness in Runaway and Normal Girls. Quarterly Journal of Counseling Culture and Psychotherapy. 5 (17): 117-134. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Karimi, Sh. , (2019), The effectiveness of spiritual therapy on resilience and marital satisfaction in female teachers. Master Thesis in General Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Gachsaran Branch. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Khajeh, F. , Khezri Moghaddam, A. , (2017). The relationship between emotional malaise and interpersonal problems with marital satisfaction in married female nurses. Journal of Urmia School of Nursing and Midwifery, 14 (7), 630-638. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Keshavarz Afshar, H. , Abedini, F. , Ghahvechi Hosseini, F. , Asadi, M. , & Jahanbakhshi, Z. ,(2016). The role of emotional expression and demographic factors in predicting women's marital satisfaction. Journal of Family Counseling and Enrichment, 1(1), 59-66. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Kiani, A. R. , Asadi shishegaran, S. , Ismaili Ghazi Valooei, F. , & Zavvar, M. , (2017). Predicting marital boredom based on emotional expression and marital documents in married people referring to welfare centers in Ardabil. Journal of Consulting Research, 15(56), 58-75. [Link] [Text in Persian]
King, L. A & Emmones, R. A. (1990). Conflict over emotion expression: psychological and physicalcorrelates. Journal of personality and social psychology, 58(5), 864-877. https://doi. org /10. 1037//0022-3514. 58. 5. 864 [Link]
Kochar‚ R. K. ‚ & Sharma‚ D. (2015). Role of love in relationship satisfaction. The International Journal of Indian Psychology‚ 3(1): 81-107. https://doi. org /10. 25215/0301. 102 [Link]
Kolak, A. M. , & Volling, B. L. (2007). Parental Expressiveness as a Moderator of Coparenting and Marital Relationship Quality. Journal of Family Relations, 56 (5), 467-478. https://doi. org/10. 1111/j. 1741-3729. 2007. 00474. x [Link]
Margelisch, K. , Schneewind, K. A. , Violette, J. , PerrigChiello, P. (2017). Marital stability, satisfaction and well-being in old age: variability and continuity in long-term continuously married older persons. Aging Ment Health, 21(4), 389-98. https://doi. org /10. 1080/13607863. 2015. 1102197 [Link]
Najjari Alamooti, B. ,Tizdast, T. , & Farhangi, A. , (2018). Cognitive emotion regulation strategies and marital satisfaction in married students. Proceedings of the Sixth Congress of the Iranian Psychological Association, 6, 1758-1764. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Ochsner, K. N. , & Gross, J. J. (2005). The cognitive control of emotion. Trends in cognitive sciences, 9(5), 242-249. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. tics. 2005. 03. 010 [Link]
Rafieinia P. , Rasoulzadeh Tabatabai, S. K. , & Azad Fallah, P. , (2006). The relationship between emotion expression styles and general health in students. Journal of Psychology, 10 (37), 85-105. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Rahimi, N. , Miri, M. R. ,& Sharifzadeh, Gh. , (2015). Evaluation of the effectiveness of relationship enrichment training on self-esteem, anxiety, depression and stress in working women. New Care Quarterly, 11 (2), 112-118. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Rauer, A. j. , Volling B. L. , (2005). The Role of Husbands’ and Wives’ Emotional Expressivity in the Marital Relationship. Journal of Sex Roles. 52(10), 577-587. https://doi. org/10. 1007/s11199-005-3726-6 [Link]
Sapin, M. , Widmer, E. D. , & Iglesias, K. (2016). From support to overload: Patterns of positive and negative family relationships of adults with mental illness over time. Social Networks, 47, 59-72. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. socnet. 2016. 04. 002 [Link]
Shahid, S. & Kazmi, S. F. , (2016). Role of Emotional Regulation in Marital Satisfaction. International Journal for Social Studies. 2, 47-60. [Link]
Sheikh Attar, Z. , Hosseini, F. , & Golestaneh, S. M. , (2019). A comparative study of the role of maternal self-efficacy and maternal delinquency on emotional regulation of children with and without father at the age of 8-11 years. Journal of Women and Family Studies. 6 (1), 93-108. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Slavinskienė, J. , & Žardeckaitė-Matulaitienė, K. (2014). Importance of alcohol-related expectations and emotional expressivity for prediction of motivation to refuse alcohol in alcohol-dependent patients. Medicina, 50(3), 169–174. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. medici. 2014. 07. 002 [Link]
Szczygie, D. Buczny. Y & Bazinskar. C. (2012). Emotion regulation and emotional information processing the moderating effect of emotional awarwness. personality and Individual Difference. 52. 433-437. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. paid. 2011. 11. 005 [Link]
Teymouri Asfichi, Ali; Gholam Ali Lavasani, Massoud and Bakhshaish, Alireza. (2012). Predicting marital satisfaction based on attachment and self-differentiation styles. Journal of Family Research. 8 (32), 441-463. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Yedirir, S. , Hamarta, E. (2015). Emotional Expression and Spousal Support as Predictors of Marital Satisfaction: The Case of Turkey. Educational Sciences: Theory & Practice. 15 (6), 1549-1558. https://doi. org/10. 12738/estp. 2015. 6. 2822 [Link]
Zare, M. , Shafi'abadi, A. , (2008). Comparison of the effectiveness of rational-emotional, behavioral group counseling and the method of psycho-acting counseling in increasing general health and emotional expression of female clients. Journal of Women's Research (Journal of Women's Studies). 1 (2), 148-181. [Link] [Text in Persian]
Zlomke, K. R. , & Hahn, K. S. (2010). Cognitive emotion regulation strategies: Gender differences and associations to worry. Personality and Individual Differences, 48 (4), 408-413. https://doi. org/10. 1016/j. paid. 2009. 11. 007 [Link]