The purpose of this study is to find the relations between adult attachment, empathic ability and marital satisfaction in order to investigate the elements of the influence on the marital satisfaction. For this purpose, several research questions were...
The purpose of this study is to find the relations between adult attachment, empathic ability and marital satisfaction in order to investigate the elements of the influence on the marital satisfaction. For this purpose, several research questions were set up as follows.
First, how does the adult attachment, empathic ability and marital satisfaction show the difference according to gender?
Second, how does the empathic ability and marital satisfaction show the difference according to adult attachment types?
Third, what is the relationship among the adult attachment, empathic ability and marital satisfaction?
Fourth, how far does the adult attachment have influence on the empathic ability?
Fifth, how far does the adult attachment have influence on the marital satisfaction?
Sixth, how far does the empathic ability have influence on the marital satisfaction?
Seventh, how far does the adult attachment and empathic ability have influence on the marital satisfaction?
For this study, we measured the level of adult attachment, empathic ability and marital satisfaction of 278 married adults in Seoul, Incheon and Gyeonggi-Province. To analyze the data, we do the t-test, ANOVA, correlation and regression analysis.
The results of this research were as follows:
First, there were statistically significant differences in marital satisfaction and emotional empathy according to gender.
Second, there were statistically significant differences in cognitive empathy, emotiomal empathy and marital satisfaction according to adult attachment types. In the case of cognitive empathy, preoccupation type had higher average than security, dismissing-avoidance or fearful-avoidance type. Preoccupation type was also better than dismissing-avoidance or fearful-avoidance type in emotional empathy. In the case of the marital satisfaction, the satisfaction of security type was higher than that of preoccupation, dismissing-avoidance or fearful-avoidance type.
Third, as for the relations between adult attachment, empathic ability and marital satisfaction, adult attachment was in inverse proportion to marital satisfaction, while empathic ability was in proportion to marital satisfaction. As for the relations between adult attachment and empathic ability, avoidance attachment was inverse proportion to both cognitive and emotional empathy, while anxiety attachment was in proportion to cognitive empathy
Fourth, as for the effects of adult attachment on empathic ability, avoidance attachment had negative influence on empathic ability, while anxiety attachment had positive influence to empathic ability.
Fifth, as for the effects of adult attachment on marital satisfaction, both avoidance and anxiety attachment had negative influence on marital satisfaction.
Sixth, as for the effects of empathic ability on marital satisfaction, both cognitive and emotional empathy had positive influence on marital satisfaction.
The last, as for the effects of adult attachment and empathic ability on marital satisfaction, avoidance attachment had negative influence on marital satisfaction most significantly and anxiety attachment also had negative influence on it meaningfully. Empathic ability had positive influence on martial satisfaction less than adult attachment.
Through the results stated above, it was found that adult attachment and empathic ability was influenced on marital satisfaction. Especially it was revealed that the attachment type formed in infancy had continued to adulthood and had affected one's marital life. And through the facts that empathic ability had positive influence on marital satisfaction, the importance of the environment of raising infants was confirmed and the teaching or training program for empathic ability is one of the efficient methods for elevating marital relationship.