Structural Relationships between Personality Traits and Marital Satisfaction with the Mediation of Loneliness in Women and Men Referring to Counseling Centers in Ilam City

Personality traits and loneliness are among the factors affecting marital satisfaction. The present study aimed to determine the structural relationships between personality traits and marital satisfaction with the mediation of loneliness in women and men referring to counseling centers in Ilam City. 

The research method was descriptive-correlational and the statistical population of this study included all women and men who referred to family counseling centers in Ilam City in 2019 with complaints of marital problems, 320 of whom were selected by non-random and convenience sampling method form among them. To collect data "The demographic Questionnaire, "NEO Five-Factor Inventory", "ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale" and "The University of California Loneliness Scale" was used. The validity of the instruments was measured using content validity by a qualitative method and reliability using the internal consistency method by calculating Cronbach's alpha coefficient. The collected data were analyzed in SPSS .24 and Amos. 24.

There is a negative and significant correlation between neuroticism (P=0.001, β=0.116) and loneliness (P=0.001, β=0.258) with marital satisfaction and there is a positive and significant correlation between agreeableness (P=0.001, β=0.327) and conscientiousness (P=0.008, β=0.185) with marital satisfaction. There is a negative and significant correlation between neuroticism and marital satisfaction with the mediation of loneliness (P=0.016, β=-0.079) and there is a positive and significant correlation between agreeableness (P=0.017, β=0.074) and conscientiousness (P=0.038, β=0.059) with marital satisfaction with the mediation of loneliness.

There are structural direct and indirect relationships between the personality traits of neuroticism, agreeableness and conscientiousness with marital satisfaction with the mediation of loneliness. Therefore, it is suggested that couples and family therapists, in counseling and couple therapy, to increase marital satisfaction, should also pay attention to people's personality manifestations and feelings of loneliness caused by it.