Examination of the relationship between relationship satisfaction, self-criticism, and social problem-solving skills in married individuals

The main aim of this study is to examine the relationship between relationship satisfaction, self-criticism, and social problem-solving skills in married individuals. Additionally, this study aims to determine whether relationship satisfaction, self-criticism, and social problem-solving skills vary significantly according to specific sociodemographic characteristics such as gender, age, education level, and length of marriageThe study is descriptive in nature and was conducted using a relational survey model. The sample of the research consists of 413 married individuals living in Istanbul who voluntarily participated in the study and were determined using random sampling method. Due to the importance of confidentiality, participants' identity information was not requested in the study. For data collection, Personal Information Form (PIF), Marriage Satisfaction Scale (MSS), Self-Criticism Scale (SCS), and Social Problem-Solving Inventory Short Form (SPSI-SF) were administered face-to-face to the participants. The SPSS program was used for data analysis, and relational results were obtained with the sub-dimensions of the scales.According to the results of the study, self-criticism was positively associated with the impulsive style, avoidant style, and negative orientation sub-dimensions of social problem-solving skills, while it was negatively associated with positive orientation. Relationship satisfaction was negatively associated with the negative orientation and avoidant style sub-dimensions of social problem-solving skills, but positively associated with positive orientation and rational problem-solving. There was no significant relationship found between self-criticism and relationship satisfaction. However, a negative relationship was found between comparative self-criticism, a sub-dimension of self-criticism, and relationship satisfaction.Relationship satisfaction was found to significantly differ according to age, gender, and length of marriage. Regarding problem-solving sub-dimensions, positive problem orientation and avoidant style varied significantly by gender; negative problem orientation by gender and length of marriage; rational problem-solving by education level; impulsive style by gender and education level; and internal self-criticism, a sub-dimension of self-criticism, by age and length of marriage.