Marital Justice and Marital Quality: Mediator Effects for Covert Relational Aggression

The aim of the present study, is to test a conceptual model for the mediating role of covert relational aggression on the relationship between marital justice and marital quality. This research was carried out in the framework of a correlational design. The participants were three hundred and twenty two women from Babolsar, Iran, who were selected based on clustered sampling. The participants completed the demographic form, The Marital Justice Scale (Ghaffari, et al., 2013), The Covert Relational Scale (Nelson & Carroll, 2006), and The Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Busby, et al., 1995). Using maximum-likelihood estimation and bootstrap procedure, results from path analysis showed that love withdr-awal have the role of mediator on the relationship between marital justice components (distributional and procedure/interactional) and dyadic satisfaction and cohesion. Also, the findings revealed that social sabotage have the role of mediator on the relationship between procedure/interactional justice and dyadic consensus and satisfaction (p<0.05). Based on the findings of the present study, it can be concluded that marital justice can predict marital quality. Meanwhile, covert relational aggression can clarify of the mechanisms of the effect of marital justice on marital quality. These results can be used to design counseling and therapeutic programs for couples.