ROLES OF SELF OBJECTIFICATION AND APPEARANCE ANXIETY ON MARITAL SATISFACTION

ABSTRACT

This study investigated the role of self-objectification and Appearance Anxiety on marital satisfaction among married people. Two hundred and fifty-three (253) participants purposively selected from St, Peters Catholic Church, ministry of education and ministry of Health, in Uyo, Akwa-Ibom State consisting of 109 males and 144 females with a mean age of 35.6 years. A survey design was adopted for the study. Three instruments were used in the study objectified body consciousness scale (Melkinley & Hyde, 1996), social Appearance Anxiety scale (Hart, David, Payo, Fresco, Holle & Henberg (2008) and couple’s satisfaction index (Funk & Rogge, 2007). A 2-way analysis of variance of unequal sample size was used to analyse the data. The result showed that married people who have high self-objectification experienced low marital satisfaction more than married people with low self-objectification (F, CI, 249) =3.979; p<0.5), thus was confirmed and significant. The result also revealed that married people who have high Appearance Anxiety reported low marital satisfaction more than married people with low Appearance Anxiety (LSD5.11; p> .05).  It was therefore concluded that levels of self-objectification and Appearance Anxiety are predictors of marital satisfaction. Implication and recommendations for future study were made.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Satisfaction is the pleasure that one feels when they do something or get something that they wanted or needed to do or get. It is the art of satisfying or the state of being satisfied. Satisfaction is a pleasant or positive emotion. It can also be a feeling, or can even be a state of a mind. A person feels satisfied by accomplishment, recognition, invention, and service. The opposite of satisfaction is dissatisfaction. Dissatisfaction occurs when we fail at doing something many times. Satisfaction is also motivator of behavior.

Marital satisfaction refers to a subjective global evaluation of one’s relationship (Narimani, Porzoor, Atadokht & Abbasi, 2015). Being in a satisfying marriage has consistently been associated with better physical health, mental health, and overall life satisfaction (Mirfardi, Edalati, & Redzuan, 2010). Conversely, marital distress, separation, and divorce have been linked to increased stress, poor physical health, and emotional (Narimani, Porzoor , Atadokht & Abbasi 2015).  . Marriage as an institution has a crucial role in helping two individuals to have personal growth and enrichment from established family life. According to Fowers (1995), Love and marriage is the primary source of individual happiness and meaning in life. These fulfillment, happiness and positive development will be possible only when the relationship between couples is coherent and satisfactory.  One of the most important goals of marriage is the will to attain marital satisfaction (Zainah, Nasir, & Ruzy, 2012). Marital satisfaction is a complex and multi-dimensional phenomenon, which has been extensively explored by the most diverse scientific fields (Rebello, Silva Junior, & Brito, 2014). According to Schoen et al., marital satisfaction is a global evaluation of the state of one’s marriage and a reflection of marital happiness and functioning. From an evolutionary perspective, marital satisfaction can be viewed as a psychological state of regulated mechanisms that monitor the benefits and costs of marriage to a particular person. In the definition of marital satisfaction, experts agree that it subjectively assesses quality of relationship (Farahmand & Ahmadnia, 2014). It seems that factors which influence or contribute to marital satisfaction may differ across cultures. For example, a husband’s income is a more important variable for marital satisfaction in Japan as compared to United States. After marriage, individuals seek a life full of happiness and satisfaction; therefore, more significant than the marriage itself is success in marriage and marital satisfaction. As a result, a decrease in marital satisfaction not only creates an inappropriate atmosphere in a family but also leads to family instability and divorce . Therefore, due to the significance of the balanced function of the family and preventing it from breaking up, it is necessary to know the effective factors in marital satisfaction which is the strengthening basis for married life (Stevens, Kiger, & Riley, (2001). In spite of widely studies about marital satisfaction, many researchers have claimed that some aspects still need to be explained. Moreover, Pleasant and relaxing couples relationship is not only suitable in order to their growth and flourishing, but also it is essential for children’s development and growth. So, it could be definitely considered as a factor for achieving life’s goals and is effectively influenced mental disorders in the community. Although, results of a study shows that almost all couples have high marital satisfaction in early years of marriage life but, it painfully decreases over time when their age increases (Motavalli , Ozgoli, Bakhtiari, 2008.).  On the other hand, lack of marital satisfaction has important consequences such as impairment in social interaction, feelings of isolation and loneliness, lower life satisfaction and family disputes that note the importance of this factor again. Results of some studies have shown that factors such as social, economic (income) and employment situation as well as personality, cognitive, religious factors besides, dating before marriage, spousal age, number of children, couples’ age gap, addiction, education, gender, disease and sexual satisfaction involved in marital satisfaction. It is worth to mention that Chiung, (2005), have claimed that factors affecting marital relationship is obviously vary in different culture. The most marital dissatisfaction is related to women and in another study has been reported that marital satisfaction in women increases with age.

Nevertheless, Amato (2007) asserted that marital happiness have been equal among men and women. besides, the results of some studies show satisfaction about sexual activity is one of the most important factors affecting marital satisfaction, so lower satisfaction will occurs when sexual activity reduce due to aging by lack of stress and unhappiness. Marital satisfaction is a complex process that has over time been thought to be influenced by many factors, including education, socio-economic status, love, commitment, marital communication, conflict, gender, length of marriage, the presence of children, sexual relations and the division of labor (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1992). The presence of children has both negative and positive relation on marital satisfaction. In addition, studies have shown that there is a relationship between number of children, particularly preschool children, and marital satisfaction (Stevens, Kiger & Riley, 2001).Being an important element of marital life, sexual relationship and satisfaction derived from it has significant relation to have a warm and sustaining relationship between spouses. Husbands’ and wives’ ratings of  satisfaction with their sexual relationship were significantly related to the overall satisfaction with their marital relationship (Young & luquis, 1998). Additionally, having low levels of education in large percentage of adults has been shown through a study could cause to lower level of satisfaction, since high education levels leads to better communication and conflict resolution skills in marriage.

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