Marital satisfaction in intercultural marriages from the perspective of Ukrainian women married to Turkish men

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate how intercultural couples attain marital satisfaction and communication competence. It enriches previous studies by bringing more clarity to understanding the complex factors contributing to marital satisfaction of partners in intercultural intimate relationships. The outcomes indicated that expanded intercultural communication competence prior to marriage lead to higher marital satisfaction while paucity of it was a stimulant for tension and conflict within intercultural marriages. Such factors as love, jealousy and partnership were found to be most relevant for marital satisfaction, thereby reaffirming evolutionary psychologists’ hypothesis about their presence across different cultures as elements of human cohesion. Keywords: Marriage, Intercultural Communication, Marital Satisfaction, Cultural Diversity.