Journal of Counseling Research

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Purpose: The quality of sexual relationship and marital intimacy are important topics of post-marriage experience. Similarly, religiosity is commonly considered as an influential framework for life. Past research has not been able to accurately discover or illustrate the opinions of experts in the area of couples counseling about the relationship between these dimensions. Therefore, this research was conducted to examine the marriage and family experts’ points of view about the role of religiosity in sexual satisfaction and marital intimacy of couples. Methods: Qualitative approach of phenomenological type was used.  For this, ten individuals who were counselors or psychologist with active working experience with couples were interviewed according to qualitative protocols. Data collected from interviews were then analyzed using features available in Microsoft Word software. Results: In the open-coding, 147 initial codes were produced, while the axial-coding based on thematic similarities yielded 24 categorical codes. One of the main questions asked of the participants was “what role can religiosity play in the quality of couple’s relationship?” Overall, according to the analysis of the responses obtained, religiosity plays a positive role in sexual satisfaction and marital intimacy of couples. However, some of the participants mentioned a few points as reservations to be considered which are covered in the current article. Conclusion: Counselors’ and psychotherapists’ perceptions about role and relation between variables of religiosity, sexual satisfaction, and marital intimacy are important. Of the main findings of the present study was interviewees’ describing the prerequisite or complementary context for capitalizing on positive effects of religiosity in sexual satisfaction and marital intimacy. situation was that the interviewees as it is a prerequisite for receiving a positive impact or supplement and religiosity on the significant sex and marital intimacy.

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Purpose: Mate selection and having a happy and successful marriage is one of the most important issues in the lives of many. One of the issues that affects the success rate of mate selection is the attitude toward this choice. The purpose of this study was to explore the attitudes of mate selection of single Iranian girls. Methods: This study was carried out with qualitative method, using thematic analysis approach. In this study, the researchers used purposive sampling method to identify and interview fifteen 18 to 30 year-old girls in Tehran. All interviews were recorded and then hand-written line by line, and then analyzed using thematic analysis. Findings: Analysis of the data obtained from the interviews resulted in identifying two main categories of effective selection attitudes with subcategories (rationality and logic-realism, realism, belief in self-knowledge, belief in knowing the other, considering the cognitive relationship as necessary, belief in balancing, belief in mutual consultation and counseling for making a choice) and ineffective selective attitudes with subcategories (idealistic, considering making a choice or marriage as restrictive, perceiving as ineffective and unnecessary mutual consultation in making a choice, and seeing choice and marriage as a bridge to the absolute emancipation from suffering) in relation to the attitudes of girls near making a marital selection. Conclusions: The findings of this study, through identifying the effective and ineffective attitudes of girls toward mate selection provided the basis for developing educational and corrective programs to strengthen positive attitudes in this group of people, and recognizing ineffective attitudes provided the means to eliminate these attitudes in order to make a more successful selection.

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Aim: Successful marriage is the foundation of establishing a stable family. This study was carried out to provide a successful marriage paradigm. Methods: The study was conducted through a qualitative methodology applying grounded theory. The participants of the study were all couples who were living in city of Ahvaz during 2019. To select the participants in this study, a purposeful sampling was administered and as the study advanced, sampling of the desired cases continued until theoretical saturation was reached. At the end, 22 individuals (11 couples) were interviewed using open-ended or structureless questions.  Findings: In grounded theory, data analysis consists of coding the data. Using open coding resulted in 83 initial codes, while using axial coding produced 23 main categories. The  concept of successful marriage was elicited as a central, transparent and explicit category. Conclusion: We can draw a conclusion that a successful marriage is hinged on a thorough and comprehensive transparency of the issues involved in a marital relationship. That is to say either couple expresses openly what they have experienced, not leaving anything vague and ambiguous so that they don’t get the urge to decode and discover it. The paradigm obtained from this study can be used in teaching couples in premarital counseling sessions. It can also be used to treat upset couples and those couples who want to enrich their relationship.

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Aim: Nowadays marriage is considered the most important pillar of a stable family and as such is quite a big concern for the average youth. Therefore reaching a successful marriage requires paying attention to different variables of this crucial subject. Therefore, the purpose of this research is to reveal a template for a successful marriage and all of its strengthening and endangering variables, considering the Iranian culture. Methods: The research method for this study was super compositional, and the statistical population included all local research in this field between the years of 2009 to 2019 that were acquired following a systematic selection criteria, that yielded 21 articles. Results: The result of this research showed that the most important factors of a successful marriage can be divided into 4 themes and 16 main factors with 146 strengthening and endangering factors, which include individual factors, environmental factors, couple factors, and criteria for mate selection. The main factors include moral, personal, or identity characteristics, religious and spiritual beliefs, including problem solving skills, parenting, effective relations with spouse, family ties with spouse, financial issues, sexual issues, cultural factors, societal factors and family, knowing the expectations, needs and wants, same mindedness, general maturity and general, physical, and mental health. All of the above mentioned main factors all have their own sub factors within themselves. Conclusion: It is expected that this project will be of use to researchers and family and marriage specialists.

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Aim: The present study was conducted to study the lived experiences of graduate students in the field of counseling and to examine the influence of their education process on their views on marriage and marital relationships. Methods: The method of this research was qualitative and phenomenological in type. Participants in this study were 16 graduate students, selected through purposeful sampling. Data collection was done through semi-structured interviews. Findings: In the dimension of positive experiences, 4 main themes were obtained that included raising awareness, growing awareness of personal abilities, improving interpersonal communication skills, and experiences around marriage. Finally, the following themes of the main categories are understood: self-awareness, increasing awareness of other people's personality traits, growing self-confidence, feeling beneficial, improvement of family and social relationships, achieving a systemic view in the family, increasing empathy, control emotions, changes in attitudes toward premarital acquaintance and emphasis on premarital counseling, new attitudes about marriage, importance of awareness about premarital counseling, and changes in gender stereotypes (in male participants). In the dimension of negative experiences, the main themes included experiences related to the phenomenon of marriage and negative effects on relationships. The following themes were extracted: decreased emotional excitement about the partner, increased sensitivity and obsession in relationships, change in attitudes toward men (on the part of female participants), creating a sense misunderstanding in family and social relationships due to differences in the level of knowledge, and existence of some level of irrational expectations from graduates in this field. Conclusion: According to the findings, the lived experience of participants showed that studying counseling can influence the personal life and perspective about marriage and marital relationships from different aspects.

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The purpose of the present study was to qualitatively study the factors on marital satisfaction from the viewpoint of divorced women before and after marriage. Methods: A qualitative study design based on grounded theory was used. Among the women who referred to the family court of Meybod city and were separated from their husbands, 12 women were selected to participate in the study. The sample size was selected based on theoretical saturation and data was obtained using a semi-structured deep interview. Findings: Results show divorced women before their marriage, either had specific and postmodern viewpoint toward marital satisfaction, or had idealistic and superficial viewpoint about marital life considering a minimal number of problems. After divorce, they believed in concrete and specific criteria for achieving marital satisfaction. The factors affecting marital satisfaction from the viewpoints of the participants before their marriage were classified in concepts such as idealism, superficial, attitudinal understanding, non-specific attitude; after divorce these factors were classified in concepts such as behavior and emotion control, personal and family fitness, rational-intellectualism, management of relationships, and accountability. However, before marriage, divorced women believed in logical criteria, which were retained after divorce. Conclusion: Based on the results, it can be concluded that change in postmodern, unrealistic, and idealistic ideas about marital satisfaction and the tendency to accept the realities of marital relationship can play an effective role in preventing divorce.

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The aim of this study was to investigate the role of cultural globalization in mate selection spaces. Methods: The research method was descriptive using survey and the participants included 1197 married girls under the auspices of the Imam Khomeini Relief Committee in Tehran from 2016 to 2017, which were included by census, online and through the social network. The research tools included the Mirzaei (1400) Questionnaire on Cultural Globalization, and Mate Spaces. Research data were analyzed using SPSS software version 24 using, and Pearson correlation coefficient and multivariate regression was utilized. Findings: The results showed that there is a negative and significant relationship between different components of cultural globalization (media consumption, music consumption, clothing consumption, and individualism) and age with mate selection spaces (p<01.0). Stepwise regression analysis also showed that cultural globalization was a strong predictor for predicting mate selection spaces (R2=56%). Conclusion: According to the present results, cultural globalization causes a change in the mate selection spaces and the actors' relations with space, and leads the act of marriage selection to marriages without intervention or with passive intervention of families and in spaces of control. Therefore, in addition to the possibility of choosing a spouse by young people, this process should be done in an environment with parental supervision and the possibility of evaluating and recognizing people in different dimensions.

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Aim: The aim of this study was to investigate young people's metaphors of "marriage" based on the cognitive metaphorical theory of Lakoff and Johnson. Methods: In line with the goal of this research, and in order to obtain the lived experiences of individuals, phenomenological methodology in qualitative study was used. The study population was married youth who volunteered to be interviewed in this field and based on the principle of theoretical sampling and data saturation, 13 people were interviewed. Results: This study showed how the Iranian youth understand the concept of marriage in such a way that the nature of marriage is a purposeful journey that is created by spouses. The existence of origin, destination, purposefulness, human corridor and movement, and finally the necessities of a healthy and successful transition to this destination, is seen positively to explain "way" as my nickname "marriage". Conclusion: Findings indicate that in this regard, the approach of educational counseling should be resorted to, in addition to the purpose and destination of the couple in marriage, their goals in life in terms of value and semantic changes in society and discourses involving spouses around the concept of marriage was examined.

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Aim: The aim of this study was to identify the dimensions of the experiences of spouse selection in divorce-seeking individuals. Methods: The present study was conducted with a qualitative approach and phenomenological design. The participants consisted of 10 divorce-seeking individuals, whom were referred with their spouse to the family court of Dezful to file for divorce. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect data. Data were analyzed using the seven-step Colaizzi method. Results: The results showed that the process of dating in divorce-seeking individuas lies in the two ends of the dating continuum: unconventional and deconstructive or completely traditional and without gradually getting to know each other. Also in divorce-seeking individuals, ignorance, forced marriage or marriage based on emotional criteria, benefits and materialities, caused the criteria to be disregarded, or the criteria did not match the potential future spouse. As a result, the process of determining the criteria was taken lightly. Conclusion: If the process of dating and determining the criteria is taken lightly or without awareness and self-determination (freedom), marriage, whether traditional or non-traditional, is more likely to lead to a decision to separate.
 

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  Abstract
Aim: Remarriage is a chance for people who have lost a spouse to re-experience cohabitation. The aim of this study was to provide a local model of satisfied remarriage. Methods: This research was conducted qualitatively using the grand theory approach in 2020. For this purpose, 21 couples living in Tehran who have had more than 3 years of remarriage were purposefully selected and surveyed using semi-structured interviews. Data were collected, recorded and then coded and classified into main categories.
Methods: This research was conducted qualitatively using the grand theory approach in 1399. For this purpose, 21 couples living in Tehran who have had more than 3 years of remarriage were purposefully selected and surveyed using semi-structured interviews. Data were collected, recorded and then coded and classified into main categories.
Results: The extracted concepts were classified into 107 sub-categories and 24 main categories. The main categories were divided into 6 general categories of causal factors, contextual, intervening, strategies, consequences and central category, and finally the central category was selected as "bilateral efforts to increase satisfaction and the continuation of remarriage.
 Conclusion: The results of the present study showed that creating a satisfying marriage depends on conscious choice and deep knowledge of each other, honesty and transparency about the issues of the former life and the current marital relationship, and finally a two-way effort to create a lasting life. And this model provided for a stable and satisfied remarriage can be a model and a path for couples. Counselors and psychologists can also help the health of families and the community by designing and implementing appropriate programs based on this model in premarital counseling and couple therapy to increase the duration of remarriage and reduce the number of divorces and the resulting injuries

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Aim: Marital quality is one of the important structures for predicting the marriage stability and marital satisfaction, but there is no agreement on its components. The aim of this study is to review Iranian literature on the subject of marital quality, to extract the marital quality components in these studies and to arrive at an integrated list of components. Methods: The research method was a systematic review and the statistical population included all research articles of marital quality in Iran during (2010-2022). The sampling method was purposeful and included searching and performing the screening process and evaluating the quality of articles, leading to the final analysis on thirty six articles. Findings: Results showed that marital quality components classified into six factors: divine spirituality in life, intimacy in relationships, adaptation in relationships, management and planning, fair distribution of power, and committed relationships. Conclusion: Based on the findings of this research, each of the factors related to marital quality can predict the stability of marriage and its satisfaction. Therefore, family counselors need to improve the six factors of marital quality in the relationship for spouses.

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Aim: The purpose of this research was to identify the indicators of changes in marriage from 1978 to 2022. Methods: To achieve the set goals, qualitative method (Strauss and Corbin's Grounded Theory) was used. Ten psychologist experts in marrage field with an average of 30.6 years of specialized activity in the field of couple relationship were selected using the purposeful sampling method and interviewed in depth until theoretical saturation. The data were recorded, coded and then classified in the form of concepts, sub-categories and main categories. Findings: The analysis of the professional experience of experts led to the identification of 138 secondary codes, 27 concepts, 8 sub-categories and 3 main categories. Changes in extra-spousal, inter-spousal and individual factors are the main categories of this research. Changes in factors such as roles, the phenomenon of divorce, the degree of influence of society, social teachings, the media, increasing the awareness of society, demographic characteristics, social experiences, policies, economic issues, modernization, cultural integration, attitudes, religious issues, the role of the family, the nature of relationship, relationships between the sexes, infidelity, commitment to responsibilities, drug/alcohol abuse, needs, choosing a spouse, motivation, knowledge of life, openness to new experience, and individual identity have been mentioned. Conclusion: This research showed that marriage during the years (1978-2022) was affected by changes in intra-individual, inter-spousal and extra-spousal factors. From the point of view of correcting the unfavorable situation of marriage at the time of research, stable and constructive economic, social and cultural policies seem necessary. Also, taking into account the current conditions of the society and the world, dealing with trainings that are appropriate to the changes that have occurred, paying attention to the individual identity and the needs of the new generation, can also help in arranging the marriage situation

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Aim: The purpose of this study was to present a conceptual model of successful marriage based on the life style of Imam Ali (AS) and Sediqeh Tahereh (SA). Methods: In this fundamental study, content analysis methodology was used. Findings: For this purpose, all available resources in this field were studied and led to the identification of the core themes of the research that include individual virtues, couples virtues, social virtues and religious virtues. Each of the core themes was related to the main themes and to the sub themes provided with examples of each of the themes. Conclusion: The results from this study indicates that there is a match between subsidiary themes based on world-view, interest, easy marriage, intimacy, mutural respect, empthay, understanding, cooperation, social and political similarity, being responsible, commitment, holiness of couple relation, marital satisfaction are effective factors in successful marital factors in Imam Ali (A) and Sedigheh (SA) way of life. Based on the recognized factors, conceptual model of marriage based on the lifestyle of Imam Ali (A) and Hazrat Sedigheh (SA) was designed.

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Aim: This research was conducted with the aim of evaluating the effectiveness of the acceptance and commitment therapy towards marriage and the criteria for choosing a spouse by unmarried students. Methods: This was a pre and post test with a 2 month follow-up. The statistical population of this research included 167 unmarried students of Allameh Tabatabai University who were studying in the academic year of 2020- 2021. The sample were randomly selected and covariance was used for analysis. Findings: The results and findings indicated that the teaching of acceptance-based therapy is effective on the components of attitude towards marriage and the criteria for choosing a spouse in single students. Conclusion: Based on the results of the research, it is suggested that acceptance and commitment therapy could be use in premarital counseling

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Aim: The purpose of the present study was to investigate the communication actions of successful marriages. Method: This study was conducted in a qualitative manner based on grounded theory.  Society: The research includes successful couples based on their own admission, examining the achievements of their joint lives and implementing the Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (1993), the short form of which was validated by Alidousti et al  successful and satisfied were selected. In total, (10 couples) were studied in Ahvaz city in 1401 by purposeful sampling until the theoretical saturation of the data. The data collection tool was a semi-structured interview using Strauss and Corbin's method of constant comparison analysis. Findings: The analysis of the findings showed that communication actions in successful marriages have four main components including, main family functions, suitable marriage formation factors; Effective communication skills and character formation in childhood. Conclusion: A successful marriage is related to the family structure of people. Therefore, experts can use the concepts extracted in this research to identify and examine the communication characteristics of successful families, which is a guide in couples therapy and pre-marital counseling.

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Purpose: The purpose of writing this article was to investigate the relationship between cultural globalization and marriage spaces, relying on the mediating role of modern identity. Method: The type of research was descriptive and the method was survey. The total sample consisted of 271 students of Al-Zahra University (S) who were married between 1398 and 1401, and this number was able to respond to the question of cultural globalization and modern identity. The collected data were analyzed and interpreted using SPSS and AMOS software and Pearson, regression and Sobel correlation tests. Findings: In terms of influencing the dimensions of the dependent variable (spouse selection spaces), the highest rate was related to the relationship between individualism and the unsupervised spousal selection space (0.77); This means that the higher the level of individualism, the higher the number of unsupervised marriages and vice versa. The lowest level of correlation was also seen between the variables of using Iranian music and the atmosphere of passive surveillance in choosing a spouse (0.16). Also, relying on the Sobel test, it was determined that the value of this statistic in all variables is greater than ±1.96, and this means that the variable of modern identity has played a significant role as a mediator in the relationship between cultural globalization and spouse selection spaces. Conclusion: Considering that the social behavior is being internalized from the moment of birth to the time of death, in order to improve the performance of people in the matter of choosing a spouse, the trustees of Sadr al-Ashara should be in the direction of identity formation and strengthening of traditional identity formation resources and also form a resistant identity in the face of identity. try to be modern and globalized. Also, the supervision of parents, along with the conscious choice of children, can be effective in the performance of choosing a spouse.

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Aim: The research aimed to study the psychological consequences of child marriage among girls through a phenomenological approach and semi-structured interviews. Methods:  Twenty women from Gilan, Khoozestan, Sistan and Baloochistan, Khorasan and Yazd province who experienced child marriage and their current ages were less than 50 years old were selected through purposive sampling. Interviews and observations were conducted by traveling to each province. Colaizzi method was used in order to analysis data. Results: Results were included of 5 main themes and 15 sub themes in psychological consequences. Main themes are crashed ego, psychic traumas, negative emotions, immaturity and personal maturity. Conclusion: The results showed that negative psychological consequences of child marriage are much more than their positive ones.


 

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Aim: The success and failure of marriage plays a fundamental role in well-being of society and individuals. Therefore, it is highly desirable to have a method to evaluate and predict the future of a marriage. As such, the aim of the present study is to validate Gottman's (2012) “success and failure in marriage questionnaires”. Methods: This is a cross-sectional study and the research design used a descriptive-correlation and test validation. Modern method of multivariate item-response theory was used for data analysis. The questionnaires used in this research were for validation, criticism, contempt, defensiveness, stonewalling, and attitude about Gottman’s past (1401). Results: In this study, the best model for factor analysis was determined to be the item-response multivariate factor analysis method and with the aid of this model, two dimensions were reported for the Gottman questionnaires. Also, the items factor loadings, the parameters of the Item-response theory and the analysis of the Items were reported. Conclusion: At the end, two dimensions of "fight mode" and "positive and negative emotions towards marriage and spouse" were identified for these questionnaires. Data analysis showed that Gottman's questionnaires have good validity in Iranian families and can be used in clinical, research and organizational environments and it is suitable to assess Iranian families. Also, the data in this research showed that Gottman's theory has good empirical support, regardless of the cultural context

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Aim: This research was done with the aim of revealing the concerns of unmarried girls before marriage. Methods: The phenomenological method was used to conduct this research. For this purpose, a semi-structured interview was conducted with fifteen 20–30 year-old single girls on the verge of marriage who reported having conflicts with their parents about marriage. The data was analyzed using content analysis, based on the Claysey analysis method. Findings: In this study, 2 main themes and 20 sub-themes were extracted, which include: a). parents' perceived concerns (with 6 sub-themes); and b). girls' concerns (with 14 sub-themes). The results of the analysis showed that the perceived concerns of parents in the field of marriage include: parents' belief that youngsters seek excitement, fear of the girl getting older, fear of the girl being helpless and alone, wrong selection by the daughter, and lack of readiness and maturity, and unfamiliarity with the boy dating. The worries of single girls on the verge of marriage include: compatibility with the husband's family, problems after marriage, fear of marriage, difficulty in compatibility with the future spouse, worry about the future, feeling of being limited in marriage, lack of progress after marriage, prediction of dissatisfaction after marriage, moving away from family, fear of future spouse's possible betrayal, lack of another date in the future, excessive negligence by parents in marriage and the effect of negative characteristics of the girl in marriage and marriage with an ideal person. Conclusion: It seems that girls on the verge of marriage suffer from a fear and worry about marriage and its related issues, which brings annoying consequences such as delay in marriage, therefore changes in the organization of attitudinal-cognitive and behavioral patterns it is needed.