Journal of Psychology & Psychotherapy
Open Access
ISSN: 2161-0487
+44 1478 350008
ISSN: 2161-0487
+44 1478 350008
Elizabeth Reyes-Fournier
Keiser University, USA
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: J Psychol Psychother
Making meaning has been found to be a valuable cognitive mechanism in dealing with trauma and stress. External stressors can have a deleterious effect on marriages and cause marital dissatisfaction that can lead to divorce. This research provided the first glimpse at whether the ability to make meaning is associated with marital satisfaction. Demographic and historical information related to divorce risk factors were collected along with an individual�s presence and search for meaning, using the Meaning in Life Questionnaire and the Locke Wallace Marital Adjustment Test to assess marital satisfaction. The Presence of Meaning was found to have a modest positive correlation with marital satisfaction and the Search for Meaning was found to have a weak negative correlation with marital satisfaction. In addition, Search for Meaning was found to be a weak yet significant predictor of marital dissatisfaction when controlling for the risk factors for divorce. This research shows that the relationship between the ability to make meaning is related to an individual�s marital satisfaction as well as has some predictive power of marital dissatisfaction. Future research should look at Presence of Meaning as a possible protective factor in a couple�s ability to endure stressors, trauma and loss.