Lived Experiences of Working Women Concerning Marital Relationship as Marital Doubled Suffering

Considering complexities in social relations and changes in the structure of society, the family system has shifted from tradition to modernity. Women's outside–house employment is also among the attributes of modernity. Women's participation in the global workforce is on the rise. The occupational and marital role interference present women with the challenges of performing a double role. Investigations on the increasing women's employment highlighted some disadvantages that afflict children; however, its consequences on marital relationships mostly remain overlooked. The present study investigated the psychological dynamics of women's employment in their marital life. This study aimed at discovering working women's life experiences to accurately identify their experiences in marital life.

This study used an interpretive paradigm based on which the qualitative methodology was selected. Based on research questions and objectives, the grounded theory method was used in this research. The significance of this methodology lies in its theorizing capability as well as facilitating qualitative data analysis. Based on the theoretical sampling approach, the researcher selected 14 married women working in the Welfare Organization in Yazd City, Iran, from 2018 to 2019. Moreover, we employed an extensive and semi–structured interview to collect the required data. The sampling process continued to reach theoretical saturation; accordingly, data collection and analysis were performed simultaneously. The inclusion criteria of the study were as follows: women working; being married; having children, and at least two years of marriage. Unemployed, single, and childless women were excluded from this research. In this study, open coding and axial coding methods were used to analyze the obtained data. Initially, the researchers precisely transcribed the interviews. Consequently, these data provided an overview of the logic of the interviews. Then, the coding process was conducted. To achieve reliability, we used external peer review and verification partners. The researchers then presented the obtained results to 5 of their colleagues with experience in fieldwork and qualitative research and seek their opinion on the validation of their data. Additionally, in this process, we reviewed several categories and concepts. Thus, the researchers validated the research by presenting the achieved results to 4 individuals. Moreover, following the approval of the study participants as well as the principles and points of the interview, the complete registration of the events, and accurate implementation, the reliability was confirmed.

The study findings were presented through careful study of the research interview transcriptions, the main propositions, concepts, and main categories; eventually, the core category was established in a long, precise, detailed, and conceptual process. Consequently, this study included 45 concepts, 16 main categories, including unhappiness, biopsychological discomfort, the lack of empathy, marital doubled suffering, inequity, sexual dissatisfaction, the rejection of fun, unbalanced responsibilities, role conflict, others’ expectations, responsibility management, emotional responsiveness, job consensus, marital recognition, positive interaction, time adjustment, and satisfaction, as well as one core category, titled as "the marital doubled suffering".

Some working women could use positive strategies with favorable consequences, such as emotional responsiveness and positive interaction. Overall, the obtained results indicated double marital suffering in the target community.