COGNITIVE EMOTIONAL REGULATION AND RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION AMONG WOMAN IN LONG TERM MARITAL RELATIONSHIP: THE ROLE OF RESILIENCE

Abstract

Abstract The present study was conducted to observe cognitive emotional regulation and relationship satisfaction among woman in long term marital relationship the moderating role of resilience. A cross-sectional research design was used. The total number of sample 200 non-working married women within a long-term marital relationship of minimum 10 years. 100 women were recruited from Lahore, 100 were from smaller, less urbanized areas. Married woman age within the range of 35-50 years. A sample was selected using snowball sampling technique. The Questionnaires used in the study were the Cognitive Emotional Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ); Garnefski & Kraaij 2002), Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS; Hendrick, 1998) and the Brief Resilience Scale (BRS). Data were analyzed using correlation, process by Hayes moderation analysis and t-test to compare from both developed and less developed areas. Results showed that maladaptive domain of cognitive emotional regulation had significant negative correlation with relationship satisfaction. Results also showed positive domain of cognitive emotional regulation (particularly positive reappraisal, positive refocusing, and putting into perspective had positive relationship with relationship satisfaction. Results also showed positive relationship between resilience and relationship satisfaction. Furthermore, the findings revealed that resilience does not moderating the relationship between maladaptive domain of cognitive emotional regulation and relationship satisfaction among woman in long term marital relationship. Results showed that women from less developed areas used other blame, acceptance, and positive refocusing strategies more than those from developed areas, while both groups showed similar levels of relationship satisfaction and resilience. By understanding how maladaptive domain of cognitive emotional regulation can act as a destructive factor, mental health professional can design interventions to reduce and mitigate the negative impact and promote healthier emotional coping mechanisms.