Relationship Between Conflict Resolution Styles and Marital Satisfaction Among Married Academicians

Abstract

This study is intended to shed light on broader question of which conflict resolution strategies are most effective in married life, with a special focus on the effectiveness of five conflict resolution styles (Integrative, avoidance, distributive, verbal aggression and physical aggression). Extant literature within this domain has produced mixed findings. A total of 350 married dual-earner academicians were taken as the sample for current study and purposive sampling technique was used. Results showed that there was a significant difference between men and women in terms of the conflict resolution styles, with women being more likely to use an integrative style, while men were more likely to use an avoidance, distributive, and verbal aggression conflict resolution style. There was also a significant difference between men and women in terms of the marital satisfaction, with women being more likely to report the higher levels of satisfaction. Integrative and avoidance styles were found to be positively related to marital satisfaction while distributive and verbal aggression styles were found to be negatively related. Physical aggression was not found to be a predictor of the marital satisfaction.