A Comparative Study of Attachment Styles, Marital Adjustment and Marital Satisfaction among Males and Females

Abstract

Attachment Styles are known to have an impact on marital relationships but there are very few studies which talk about gender-based differences. The purpose of the study was to compare attachment styles, marital adjustment and marital satisfaction among married males and females. A total of 102 married individuals with more than 5 years of marriage and at least one child of which 51 working males and 51 non-working females were selected using purposive sampling. The scales like Measure of Attachment Style (MOAS) developed by Naseem Ahmad and colleagues, the Marital Adjustment Scale (MAS) created by Dr. C.G. Deshpande, and the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (EMS) developed by David Olson and associates (excluding distortion items) along with a personal data sheet was used. Shapiro-Wilk test of normality was used which indicated that the data was not normal. Thus, Mann-Whitney U Test was used for comparison. The results indicated significant gender differences in ambivalent and avoidant attachment style, in which females scored higher in ambivalent while males scored higher in avoidant attachment style. However, no significant gender differences were found for secure attachment style and marital adjustment and marital satisfaction. These results infer that gender might influence certain attachment style but not marital adjustment or marital satisfaction. This study contributes to the growing literature and emphasizes the value of considering tailored interventions which are gender specific to understand relational patterns in marital counselling which helps in promoting marital well-being.