The effects of communication training on marital communication, marital satisfaction and self-concept

Abstract

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the Minnesota Couples Communication Program (MCCP) in enhancing communication skills, marital satisfaction and self-concept. The underlying assumption was that if spouses, through participation in the MCCP, could improve the effectiveness of their communication, they would in turn increase the amount of satisfaction they derive from their marital relationship and further, that they would experience a positive change in the way they viewed themselves as individuals, as spouses, and as social beings. A total of 36 married couples (n = 72) participated in this study. The experimental group, composed of 15 couples, and the control group, 21 couples, completed the following instruments: the Marital Communication Inventory (MCI), the Marital Satisfaction Scale (MSS) and the Tennessee Self Concept Scale (TSCS). Testing was done prior to the first session of the MCCP, immediately following the fourth session and finally after a 10 week period following the completion of the program. Control couples were given tests identical to those administered to experimental couples at time intervals equivalent to the pre-, post- and follow-up testing of the experimental groups. Research hypotheses were studied using a split-plot factorial 2 x 2 x 3 design. Each of the six dependent variables (marital communication, marital satisfaction, personal self, family self, social self, and total P) was treated individually with an analysis of variance with repeated measures over sex and trials. Findings showed the MCCP resulted in couples' increased satisfaction with their marriages and overall level of self concept (total P). Further, it was found that that aspect of the self malleable to this type of intervention was the personal self. The program also produced highly significant increases in communication skills but because of differences in the two treatment groups at pre-test, it is difficult to interpret this finding.