Impact Of Sense Of Mastery, Marital Strain, And Social Support On Emotional Well-Being And Marital Satisfaction Among Married Couples.

Zahra Poonawala; Dr Anu Raj Singh

doi:10.69980/ajpr.v28i5.391

Authors

Zahra Poonawala
Dr Anu Raj Singh

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.69980/ajpr.v28i5.391

Keywords:

Sense of mastery, Marital strain, Social support, Emotional well-being, Marital satisfaction

Abstract

The feeling of mastery refers to a person’s belief in their ability to control and manage life situations. Marital strain is the stress or tension experienced in a marriage. Social support is the help and comfort a person receives from others. Emotional well-being is a state of positive mental health, and marital satisfaction is the happiness and fulfillment in a marriage. Intolerance of uncertainty is the difficulty in dealing with unknown or unpredictable situations. This research investigates how these factors affect married couples. A stronger feeling of mastery improves emotional well-being. Higher social support increases both emotional well-being and marital satisfaction. Marital strain reduces marital satisfaction. People who struggle with uncertainty (low tolerance) weaken the positive effect of mastery on emotional well-being.

The study collected survey data from 384 married couples and analyzed it using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) in AMOS. The results show that improving mastery and social support can enhance mental health and marriage happiness. Managing marital stress and uncertainty helps couples strengthen their relationships with the help of their social networks.

Author Biographies

Zahra Poonawala

Research Scholar, Banasthali Vidyapith

Dr Anu Raj Singh

Assistant Professor, Banasthali Vidyapith

References

[1] A. E. Ermer and C. M. Proulx, “Associations Between Social Connectedness, Emotional Well-Being, and Self-Rated Health Among Older Adults: Difference by Relationship Status,” Res. Aging, vol. 41, no. 4, pp. 336–361, 2019, doi: 10.1177/0164027518815260.

[2] M. Lindgren et al., “Sense of mastery in first-episode psychosis—a one-year follow-up study,” Front. Psychiatry, vol. 14, no. September, pp. 1–10, 2023, doi: 10.3389/fpsyt. 2023. 1200669.

[3] S. Assari, “Association between general sense of mastery and income in White-and African-American adults,” Nurs. Midwifery Stud., vol. 8, no. 3, pp. 162–167, 2019, doi: 10.4103/nms. nms_47_18.

[4] S. M. K. Arifain, F. Yusof, S. Aziz, N. Suhaini, and N. Suhaini, “The Influence of Social Support on Marriage Satisfaction among Working Women in Selangor, Negeri Sembilan And Melaka,” Int. J. Acad. Res. Bus. Soc. Sci., vol. 11, no. 2, 2021, doi: 10.6007/ijarbss/v11-i2/8874.

[5] J. Abbas et al., “The moderating role of social support for marital adjustment, depression, anxiety, and stress: Evidence from Pakistani working and nonworking women,” J. Affect. Disord., vol. 244, pp. 231–238, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2018.07.071.

[6] M. A. Garcia and D. Umberson, “Marital strain increases psychological distress for couples in both same-sex and different-sex marriages, but women in different-sex marriages suffer more,” PRC Res. Br., vol. 4, no. 10, pp. 1–3, 2019.

[7] E. Carasso and S. K. Dikla, “Marital strain and emotional intimacy in midlife couples: The moderating role of empathy,” Pers. Relatsh., no. September 2023, pp. 648–663, 2024, doi: 10.1111/pere.12559.

[8] P. Gao, H. Wu, Z. Fan, and M. Tao, “Exploring the Relationship Between Intolerance of Uncertainty and Trust in Physicians from Spousal and Parent-Child Perspectives,” Psychol. Res. Behav. Manag., vol. 16, no. null, pp. 2173–2186, Dec. 2023, doi: 10.2147/PRBM. S413821.

[9] J. L. Morse, M. A. Prince, and M. F. Steger, “The role of intolerance of uncertainty in the relationship between daily search for and presence of meaning in life,” Int. J. Wellbeing, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 34–49, 2021, doi: 10.5502/ijw. v11i1.1079.

[10] N. Achdut and T. Refaeli, “Unemployment and psychological distress among young people during the covid‐19 pandemic: Psychological resources and risk factors,” Int. J. Environ. Res. Public Health, vol. 17, no. 19, pp. 1–21, 2020, doi: 10.3390/ijerph17197163.

[11] C. A. Christie-Mizell, B. N. Hearne, R. D. Talbert, and C. G. Frazier, “Romantic Relationships, Parenthood, and the Personal Sense of Mastery: The Consequences of Gender among Young Adults,” Sociol. Focus, vol. 56, no. 2, pp. 172–191, 2023, doi: 10.1080/00380237.2023.2178045.

[12] M. Ardelt and M. Ferrari, “Effects of wisdom and religiosity on subjective well-being in old age and young adulthood: Exploring the pathways through mastery and purpose in life,” Int. Psychogeriatrics, vol. 31, no. 4, pp. 477–489, 2019, doi: 10.1017/S1041610218001680.

[13] G. Bırni and A. Eryılmaz, “Enhancing Well-being of the Married: Investigating Marital Satisfaction, Self-Compassion and Happiness Increasing Strategies,” Turkish Psychol. Couns. Guid. J., vol. 12, no. 65, pp. 650–668, 2022, doi: 10.17066/TPDRD.12061408.

[14] A. M. Brokowski C, “乳鼠心肌提取 HHS Public Access,” Physiol. Behav., vol. 176, no. 5, pp. 139–148, 2019, doi: 10.1111/jomf.12635.Research.

[15] K. A. Gabriel, S. Mutisya, and J. P. Egunjobi, “The Levels of Psychological Well-Being among Married Couples in Selected Parishes in the Catholic Archdiocese of Nairobi, Kenya,” EAS J. Psychol. Behav. Sci., vol. 6, no. 02, pp. 19–33, 2024, doi: 10.36349/easjpbs.2024.v06i02.003.

[16] J. Srivastava and R. Gautam, “Mindfulness and the Psychological Well-Being of Married People,” vol. 50, no. APRIL, pp. 373–380, 2024.

[17] A. Alfawair, A. Hamaidia, and A. S. S. A. L. FUDHAILI, “Social support associated with marriage decision and its relationship to marital adjustment among married women in Sultanate of Oman,” Authorea Prepr., pp. 1–18, 2023, [Online]. Available:

https://www.authorea.com/doi/full/10.22541/au.168453561.15809005%0Ahttps://www.authorea.com/doi/pdf/10.22541/au.168453561.15809005

[18] Z. Kavehfarsani and M. Omidian, “Investigate the effect of social support on marital satisfaction with mediating role of emotional loneliness and physical alctivity,” Iran. J. Heal. Psychol., vol. 3, no. 2, pp. 103–118, 2021.

[19] N. Racine, A. Plamondon, R. Hentges, S. Tough, and S. Madigan, “Dynamic and bidirectional associations between maternal stress, anxiety, and social support: The critical role of partner and family support,” J. Affect. Disord., vol. 252, no. December 2018, pp. 19–24, 2019, doi: 10.1016/j.jad.2019.03.083.

[20] Z. Nihayah, S. Sururin, C. Choirunnisa, D. H. Z. Hidayat, S. Alim, and M. Fayruz, “The Effect of Forgiveness and Spouse Social Support on Marital Satisfaction from the Perspective of Islamic Ethics,” Islam. Guid. Couns. J., vol. 6, no. 1, pp. 99–112, 2023, doi: 10.25217/igcj.v6i1.3254.

[21] L. Upenieks and Y. Liu, “Marital Strain and Support and Subjective Well-Being in Later Life: Ascribing a Role to Childhood Adversity,” J. Aging Health, vol. 34, no. 4–5, pp. 550–568, Oct. 2021, doi: 10.1177/08982643211048664.

[22] K. S. Adhikari, A., & Shilpa, “Understanding romantic relationships using strength and strain model in the context of COVID-19,” Couple Fam. Psychol. Res. Pract., 2024, doi: https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000267.

[23] et al., “Intolerance towards Uncertainty and Self-Adjustment of Women Working in Essential and Critical Sectors,” Int. J. Soc. Sci. Hum. Res., vol. 6, no. 10, pp. 6184–6191, 2023, doi: 10.47191/ijsshr/v6-i10-54.

[24] K. Kuang and P. E. Gettings, “Interactions among Actual Uncertainty, Desired Uncertainty, and Uncertainty Discrepancy on Anxiety and Information Seeking,” J. Health Commun., vol. 26, no. 2, pp. 127–136, 2021, doi: 10.1080/10810730.2021.1883774.

[25] N. K. Corso, “Marital Satisfaction and Inflammatory Functioning: A Biopsychosocial Pathway to Health A Meta-Analytic Review,” Thesis, vol. 53, pp. 1689–1699, 2019.

[26] H. Shin and C. Park, “Social support and psychological well-being in younger and older adults: The mediating effects of basic psychological need satisfaction,” Front. Psychol., vol. 13, no. November, pp. 1–14, 2022, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1051968.

[27] Annelie Hering, “Evaluation of the Psychometric Properties of the Generic Sense of Ability to Adapt Scale in the Context of the COVID-19 Pandemic.,” p. 6, 2021.

[28] G. G. SG GMIT, NW DALHAM, “Instrument --- Multi-Dimensional-Scale-of-Perceived-Social-Support (Mdpss).” 2019.

[29] A. E. Ermer and C. M. Proulx, “The association between relationship strain and emotional well-being among older adult couples: the moderating role of social connectedness,” Aging Ment. Heal., vol. 26, no. 6, pp. 1198–1206, 2022, doi: 10.1080/13607863.2021.1910786.

[30] C. D. Ryff, Almeida, Ayanian, Cleary, Coe, and Williams, “Psychological Wellbeing ( 18 items ),” Doc. Psychosoc. Constr. Compos., no. 2010, pp. 2004–2006, 2018.

[31] E. Antonelli and L. Ronconi, “The Couple Satisfaction Questionnaire: Development and Validation with Two Italian Samples,” Adv. Soc. Sci. Res. J., vol. 9, no. 5, pp. 22–38, 2022, doi: 10.14738/assrj.95.12258.

[32] G. Instructions, “Intolerance of Uncertainty Scale (IUS),” no. Item 22, pp. 8–11, 2019.

[33] H. Parker, P. Paul, and J. Fernandes, “Relationship Satisfaction , Psychological Wellbeing and Empathy among Married Couples : A Correlational analysis with gender comparisons,” vol. 49, no. 2, pp. 227–232, 2023.

[34] A. E. Ermer and C. M. Proulx, “Social support and well-being among older adult married couples: A dyadic perspective,” J. Soc. Pers. Relat., vol. 37, no. 4, pp. 1073–1091, 2020, doi: 10.1177/ 0265407519886350.