Preliminary Design and Validation of Emotional Maturity Scale Related to Couple Relationships Based on Quranic and Narration Sources

Emotional maturity refers to an individual’s developed ability to connect with others based on divine foundations, which is also a requirement for creating appropriate relationships with one’s partner. If the partners are not mature in this respect, they will face problems in their relationship. Considering the high emphasis on the use of models and instruments based on culture for training the couples and resolving their marital relationships and dissatisfaction, the purpose of the present study was to design and validate the scale for measuring emotional maturity based on Quranic sources and narration.

This is a quantitative-qualitative study with a mixed methods design. The statistical population of the study consisted of married men and women in Isfahan, out of whom 300 (150 women and 150 men) were selected by accessible sampling method and completed the Scale of Islamic Marital Emotional Maturity. The validity of the Scale was assessed by evaluating the content validity, face validity and also the concurrent criterion validity using exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis and Pearson correlation. Cronbach's alpha was used to determine the reliability of the scale. In this study, all ethical considerations were observed and the authors did not report any conflict of interests.

The findings showed that the face and content validity of the Marital Emotional Maturity Scale based on Quranic sources and narration is acceptable. The results of exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis confirmed 8 factors including benevolence, honor, reformation, responsibility, compassion, consultation, empathy and companionship, and a final number of 51 questions was determined. Concurrent criterion validity of the scale was also confirmed. Findings of the study indicate that this scale has appropriate validity and can be used to assess Islamic marital emotional maturity. The Cronbach's alpha index also indicates the high reliability of the scale.

According to the results of validity and reliability analyses, it can be stated that this scale is a reliable and valid tool for assessing marital emotional maturity based on Quranic and narration sources and can be implemented and applied to Iranian couples.