ROLE OF POSITIVE-NEGATIVE RELIGIOUS COPING AND PERCEIVED SOCIAL SELF-EFFICACY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION AMONG MARRIED INDIVIDUALS

Abstract

Objective: This research focused on determining the influence of positive-negative religious coping and perceived social self-efficacy on the level of relationship satisfaction an individual has in their current relationship. Prior research has established connections between both positive and negative religious coping and overall wellbeing separately, however this study aimed to assess how well the three factors combined to predict the level of satisfaction that married people were experiencing within the context of their marriage. Methodology: A quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted to collect data. Participants were 224 married individuals, who were recruited through a purposive sampling method, and they completed the relationship satisfaction questionnaire, the brief religious coping scale, and a perceived social self-efficacy questionnaire. Using Pearson's correlation coefficients and multiple linear regression analyses performed with SPSS, data were analyzed to assess the relationship between all three constructs. Findings: Through bivariate correlation analysis, it was found that perceived social self-efficacy (0.64, p < 0.01), positive religious coping ways (0.23, p < 0.01), and negative religious coping ways (0.20, p < 0.01) all demonstrated statistically significant positive correlations with relationship satisfaction as indicated by the p value. The results of the multiple regression analyses also indicated that the model as a whole (0.41) was predictive of relationship satisfaction; however, only perceived social self-efficacy was identified as a statistically significant unique predictor (Beta= 0.61, p < 0.001). Positive religious coping and negative religious coping did not provide additional variance in the trends of marital relationship satisfaction when controlled for self-efficacy. Conclusion: The overall findings suggest that while both positive and negative religious coping were associated with relationship satisfaction, the main predictor of the amount of satisfaction an individual has in their current relationship was how much they believe they can successfully cope with their social and emotional life effectively that is perceived social self-efficacy.