The Effectiveness of the Adlerian-Based Premarital Education Program on Female Students’ Constraining Beliefs regarding Mate Selection

This purpose of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Adlerian-based premarital education program on female students’ constraining beliefs regarding mate selection. The statistical population included high school female students in the 2nd grade living in Jam (located in Bushehr province) during the academic year of 2018-19. The study was a quasi-experiment, using pre/post-test and a control group. The sample included 52 female students who scored 1.5 standard deviation higher than average. The participants were assigned to the experimental (n=26) and the control group (n=26). The experimental group received seven 90-minute sessions of Adlerian-based premarital training while the control group received no intervention. The participants completed the Attitudes about Romance and Mate Selection Scale (ARMSS). The data analyzed using the repeated measures ANOVA, and the results showed that the program reduced five of the six constraining beliefs about mate selection, such as "cohabitation", "one and only one", "opposing complement each other", "idealism", and "ease of effort". The program had no effect on “perfect confidence”. According to the results, the findings of the study can be used to improve the process of mate-selection.