Can Deficits in Emotional Intelligence Explain the Negative Relationship Between Abandonment Schema and Marital Quality?

• Published date: 01 October 2018
• Author: Samaneh Abedini,Zahra Izadikhah,Peter O'Connor,Chris J. Jackson
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/fare.12320
• Date: 01 October 2018

P O’C Queensland University of Technology

Z I University of Southern Queensland

S A University of Beheshti

C J. J University of New South Wales

Can Decits in Emotional Intelligence Explain the

Negative Relationship Between Abandonment

Schema and Marital Quality?

Objective: To determine whether the harmful

effects of abandonment schema on marital qual-

ity can be attributed to low trait emotional intel-

ligence in a sample of Iranian couples.

Background: Research has demonstrated that

maladaptive schemas are relatedto various indi-

cators of marital quality; however, little is known

about the mechanisms underlying these relation-

ships. In this study, we use maladaptive schema

theory to propose that the harmful effects of

abandonment schema on marital quality can be

attributed to low trait emotional intelligence.

Method: Data were collected from a sample

of 123 married couples from Iran. Participants

completed a series of questionnaires designed

to measure maladaptive schemas, trait emo-

tional intelligence, and marital quality. Struc-

tural equation modeling was used to assess the

hypothesized indirect effect.

Results: Results indicate that abandonment

schema is negatively associated with several

School of Management, Queensland University of Technol-

ogy Queensland, 4000, Australia, GPO Box 2434, Brisbane

QLD 4001, Australia (peter.oconnor@qut.edu.au)

Key Words: emotions, marital communication, marital qual-

ity, marital satisfaction, mental health.

indicators of marital quality via the mediating

effects of trait emotional intelligence.

Conclusion: We conclude that trait emotional

intelligence can account for the negative rela-

tionships between abandonment schema and

spousal ratings of marital satisfaction, commu-

nication satisfaction, and conict resolution sat-

isfaction in a sample of Iranian couples.

Implications: Couple therapists should con-

sider emotion-focused techniques when treating

couples where one or both partners present with

abandonment schema.

Marital quality is one of the most salient

predictors of individual, family, and societal

well-being (Carr, Freedman, Cornman, &

Schwarz, 2014; Stack & Eshleman, 1998).

Dened here in terms of indices of satisfaction,

marital quality has been linked to such diverse

and important outcomes as long-term job sat-

isfaction (Rogers & May, 2003), happiness

(Jackson, Miller, Oka, & Henry, 2014), and

survival after congestive heart failure (Coyne

et al., 2001). The effects of marital quality do

not seem to be constrained to the immediate

family unit: Research has shown that children

of divorced parents have a greater likelihood

510 Family Relations 67 (October 2018): 510–522

DOI:10.1111/fare.12320