The Role of Marital Religious Orientation and Healthy Relationship in Predicting Marital Satisfaction of Couples

One of the main concerns of psychologists is to find ways and means to reduce the divorce rate and increase marital adjustment, respectively. As such, the present study investigated the role of religious orientation and healthy relationship in marital satisfaction of couples. To do so, 300 married men and women in three groups of employees, students and scholars residing in Mashhad, were selected randomly. They completed the Religious Orientation Inventory (BahramiEhsan, 2004), Healthy Relationships Inventory (BahramiEhsan & Rezazadeh, 2004) and Marital Adjustment Inventory (Sapanier, 1976). In general, the results showed that religious orientation and healthy relationship can predict marital satisfaction meaningfully. Specifically, within the components of religious orientation, the component of disorganization can predict the decrease of marital satisfaction in both men and women. Regarding, the role of healthy relationship in predicting marital satisfaction, the component of affectional relationship was significant for both sexes. However attempts for relationship improvement in relation to marital satisfaction was significant for women only, and in men, only the component of affectional relationship can significantly predict marital satisfaction. The finding of this research indicated that healthy relationships inspired from Islamic instructions meant for regulation and strengthening of the relationship between couples can enhance marital satisfaction in spouses.