Marital Interaction in Iranian Couples

Examining the Role of Culture

Bibliographic Data

ID3030870
AuthorsMansoureh Sadat Sadeghi (0000-0001-9968-1018, Department of Psychology, Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University (GC), P.O. Box 19395/4716, Tehran, Iran.), Mohamad Ali Mazaheri (0000-0001-8638-2641, Department of Psychology, Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University (GC), P.O. Box 19395/4716, Tehran, Iran.), D Fereshte Motabi (Department of Psychology, Family Research Institute, Shahid Beheshti University (GC), P.O. Box 19395/4716, Tehran, Iran.), Keivan Zahedi (Department of Linguistics, Shahid Beheshti University (GC), Tehran, Iran)
Year2012
Volume43
Issue2
Pages281-300
Publication date2012-03-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Comparative Family Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-2328 • E-ISSN: 1929-9850
PublisherUniversity of Toronto Press Inc. (UTPress) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.3138/jcfs.43.2.281
OpenAlexW2599077006
LanguageEN
Citations received6
References cited20

The aim of the present paper is two-fold: on the one hand, it looks into the patterns of communication between spouses amongst Iranian married couples; on the other hand, it attempts to devise and introduce a newly customized and culture-sensitive coding system to delineate modes of interaction between couples within Iranian families. The role of culture is, therefore, under scrutiny. In order to collect the required data and also examine the cultural impact on marital interaction between Iranian couples, videotapes of 31 distressed and non-distressed couples were coded based on the Iranian Couples Interaction Coding System (ICICS). This observational coding system is based on SPAFF. Moreover, all participants were requested to complete the Persian translation of the Marital Adjustment Test (MAT). Findings show that ICICS is a reliable and valid tool for the measurement of Iranian couples' interactions. Also, an analysis of marital interaction indicates that Iranian distressed couples are more likely to express their Family Contempt and Criticize each other's families (FCOCR) than their Western counterparts. In fact, results of the study highlight the importance of culture-bound mechanisms, especially the importance of family ties, in Iran. It seems that expressing contempt and criticizing each other's families are an indirect put-down technique employed by Iranian couples, indicating that the "family-of-origin" plays an important role in the couples' life cycle. Furthermore, non-distressed, well-adjusted couples were found more inclined towards demonstrating an increase in their positive feelings by using the first person plural pronoun "we" as a bonding glue in their relationships. Other significant culture-related differences found as a result of the present research include selfdegradation, verbal attempts to abort marriage and gender-bound rules regulating codes of conduct. The research, in agreement with other similar studies, clearly indicates that positive interaction is positively associated with relationship satisfaction, whereas turning against and turning away interaction types are negatively associated with it

Contempt · Developmental psychology · Feeling · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics · Family Dynamics and Relationships · Marriage and Sexual Relationships · Psychology · Social Psychology

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