The Structural Relationships between Romantic Jealousy , Marital Stability and Marital Satisfaction Mediated by Marital Control and Emotional Expression: An Evolutionary Perspective

This study aimed to present an evolutionary model of the role of romantic jealousy in marital stability and marital satisfaction mediated by marital control and emotional expression. The research method was descriptive and path analysis. To this end, 302 married people were selected by random sampling. The instruments used included the Multidimensional Jealousy Scale (MJS), Marital Controlling Scale (MCS), Emotional Expressiveness Questionnaire (EEQ), and Index of Marital Satisfaction (IMS). Data analysis was done using Pearson correlation and path analysis in SPSS-22 and AMOS-23 software packages. The results indicated that romantic jealousy directly affects marital control (0.482) and emotional expression (-0.173) but has no direct impact on marital stability and satisfaction. Also, marital control directly affected marital stability (0.425) and marital satisfaction (0.290). In addition, emotional expression directly affects marital stability (-0.175) and marital satisfaction (-0.192). The results of indirect effects revealed that romantic jealousy has a statistically significant effect on marital stability (0.26) and marital satisfaction (0.14) through marital control. Also, romantic jealousy significantly affects marital stability (0.3) and marital satisfaction (0.3) through emotional expression. According to the findings of this study, it can be concluded that romantic jealousy cannot explain marital stability and satisfaction directly, but can indirectly affect marital stability and satisfaction. Consequently, in the presence of romantic jealousy, using marital control can lower the health of the relationship, but emotional expression can enhance the health of the relationship.