The Predictive Role of Marital Satisfaction on Parenting Styles and Life Satisfaction of Married Individuals

Abstract

The aim of this study is to determine whether there is a predictive relationship of marital satisfaction with parenting styles and life satisfaction among married individuals. Three hypothesis were formulated (a) There would be significant predictive relationship between individuals marital satisfaction and their parenting styles (b) There would be significant relationship between individuals marital satisfaction and their life satisfaction. The sample comprised of N= 243, participants with age range between 22 to 50 years out of which 94 were male and 163 were female participants. Gender participation ration was between 36% - 63%. Participants were approach through convenient purposive sampling method from different cities of Pakistan. ENRICH Marital Satisfaction inventory (Baline J.Fowers and David H. Olson 1993) Parenting style Questionnaire (Robinson, Mandleco, Oslen and Hart 1995), and life satisfaction (Diener et al 1985) was utilized for data collection process. Results showed that authoritarian parenting had a significant relationship with the life satisfaction (r=.20) and marital satisfaction (r=.20) , on the other hand, life satisfaction had an inverse relationship with the authoritative parenting style (r=-.006). Furthermore, significant correlation between marital satisfaction and life satisfaction (r=.522) is observed. Regression analysis shows there is a significant relationship between marital satisfaction and authoritative parenting style (r2=.020) and a significant relationship between marital satisfaction and authoritarian parenting style (r2= .042). Whereas, marital satisfaction and life satisfaction has a significant relationship (r2= .038). Based on the results, the authoritarian parenting style has been seen to substantially connect with the relationship satisfaction of married individuals in Pakistan.