The Perception of Women With Low Intimacy About the Quality of Emotional Expression of Their Spouses: Phenomenological Research

Document Type : Original Research

Authors

1 Assistant Professor, Department of counseling, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran.

2 M.A in family counseling, Faculty of Psychology and Education, Allameh Tabatabaei University, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Abstract
Emotional expression is one of the main components in marital intimacy between spouses, which has a significant impact on the quality of marital life and intimacy between the couples. The aim of the present study was to describe the common perception of women with low intimacy about the quality of emotional expression of their husbands. The present research method was qualitative and phenomenological. The research sample included 9 married women in Tehran in 2021, who experienced low marital intimacy and were selected by volunteer sampling. To determine the level of intimacy of women, the emotional intimacy dimension of Personal Intimacy Assessment Questionnaire (PAIQ) was used and semi-structured interview was used to collect data, and this process continued until data saturation was reached. The data analysis was also performed according to the seven-step Colaizzi’s method. The findings of the research indicated the existence of five main themes: avoiding emotional expression, not paying attention to the needs of the spouse, limited and inappropriate expression, reactive emotional expression, and creating an emotional defensive barrier in front of the spouse. The present study showed that women with low intimacy perceive their spouses without appropriate self-disclosure and emotional expression. Based on the findings of the present research, it can be concluded that women with a low level of emotional intimacy perceive their husbands' emotional expression in a negative way, that they generally avoid their emotional expression or that they express their emotions in an inappropriate way in their marital relationships.

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History

  • Receive Date: 12 May 2023
  • Revise Date: 06 August 2023
  • Accept Date: 28 August 2023

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