Emotional Intelligence and Marital Satisfaction

INTRODUCTIONThe co-existence of a man and a woman changed itself in a bond called 'marriage'. With the evolution of culture marriage became a lifelong sacrament (Russell, 1929). Breaking the marital relationship became a social stigma (Datar, 1988). Marriage got defined as 'a social arrangement based on a contract, including recognition of the rights and duties of parenthood, common residence for husband, wife, children and reciprocal economic obligations (Stephen, 1963). The system of marriage proved to be beneficial in terms of satisfying the security and belongingness needs and challenging it became an unfavorable step. With changing face of democracy industrialization, marriage became a more legal than religious bond. Feminist movements worked hard to gender sensitize the legal structures. In India, since the Hindu Marriage Act (1955), every married Hindu person got a formal right to dissolve marriage through legal means.Education helped in rationalizing decisions, made people more open to change. Expressions became open, social constraints little flexible. People started thinking about the quality of married life. With 'individualization' becoming the keyword of the society, this led to a new mindset with different expectations from and ideas about married life including sex as a vital part (Kshire , Kulkarni, 2004). In India almost 60-70 % of divorce cases filed in the last few years involved couples between 25 to 35 years of age (Shefali, Doshi, 2005). Research denotes that some basic thinking ability is definitely required for maintaining and strengthening any relationship. Intelligence thought to be an unitary ability, later emerged as multidimensional. Research findings showed that success in life is dependent on emotional intelligence rather than traditional notion of intelligence.Different models of EI were proposed by Mayer and Salovey (Cognitive model of emotional intelligence), Bar-on (Relational model), Daniel Goleman - (Emotional competencies model) etc. Goleman's model proposes five core dimensions namely, selfawareness, self-Control, motivation, empathy, and social skills, consisting of 25 sub competencies (Goleman, 1995). It has been found that individuals who are emotionally mature are more comfortable with themselves and much less chaotic than those who are emotionally immature. (Murray J. 1997)Five types of marriages namely- vitalized, harmonious, traditional, conflicted and devitalized (Olson,1996) range from healthiest to the most problematic marital relationship.If the maturity to accept other person is hampered, it can lead to serious drop in the satisfaction gained through marriage for spouses who have unrealistically blissful expectations from marriage, different role expectations, monetary problems, poor communication. Drifting apart due to contrary interests and social contacts, ego problems, physical-mental abuses are some other important reasons (Flowers, Blaine, Montel, Olson, 1996). Is marital satisfaction a function of level of one's emotional intelligence? Which factors of EI influence the way a person perceives and interprets the relationship with the spouse? Developing awareness about one's own emotional intelligence before marriage or during married life may reduce the possibility or gravity of future problems.The present study thus focused on finding out the relationship between the level of marital satisfaction and 'emotional intelligence'. Indian view attaches greater importance to competency in displaying pro-social values and social sensitivity issues. (Sibia, Mishra, 2004). A culturally appropriate model of emotional intelligence for Indian population was thought of. Thus Goleman's model emphasizing the practical applications of EI was considered appropriate.METHODResearch DesignSurvey type research designTools usedTool No. 1: Marital Satisfaction Scale-: Split half reliability coefficient for the test was found to be 0. …