Explaining the Relationship Between Couples’ Communication Styles and Marital Satisfaction: The Mediating Roles of Joint Problem-Solving and Emotion Regulation
Keywords:
couples’ communication styles, marital satisfaction, joint problem-solving, emotion regulation, qualitative research, couple therapyAbstract
Objective: This study aimed to qualitatively explain how couples’ communication styles are related to marital satisfaction through the mediating roles of joint problem-solving and emotion regulation among married couples living in Tehran.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study was conducted using thematic analysis. Participants consisted of 22 married individuals residing in Tehran who were selected through purposive sampling with maximum variation in age, length of marriage, parental status, and educational level. Data were collected exclusively through semi-structured interviews. Interviews continued until theoretical saturation was achieved; saturation occurred at the twentieth interview, and two additional interviews were conducted to ensure data adequacy. All interviews were audio-recorded with informed consent, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using NVivo software. The credibility and trustworthiness of the findings were enhanced through member checking, peer review, analytic memoing, an audit trail, and constant comparison of codes and categories.
Findings: Data analysis led to the extraction of four main categories: “constructive communicative climate and the experience of being seen,” “erosive communication cycles and reduced marital satisfaction,” “joint problem-solving as a mechanism for transforming conflict into cooperation,” and “individual–dyadic emotion regulation as a mediator of relational stability.” The findings indicated that open, empathic, and problem-oriented communication contributes to marital satisfaction when couples are able to define conflicts as shared problems and regulate negative emotions such as anger, fear, resentment, and shame. Conversely, criticism, defensiveness, punitive silence, withdrawal, and mutual blame disrupted collaborative problem-solving and intensified emotional dysregulation.
Conclusion: Marital satisfaction is not merely the result of frequent communication; rather, it depends on the quality of communication, the couple’s ability to construct a shared understanding of problems, and their capacity to regulate emotions during stressful interactions. Accordingly, couple therapy interventions should move beyond communication-skills training and simultaneously target joint problem-solving processes and dyadic emotion regulation.
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