The Role of Gender, Romantic Jealousy and Intimate Partner Violence on Relationship Satisfaction during Young Adulthood

Developing a healthy romantic relationship has a fundamental effect on an individuals’ well being as it is linked to better physical and mental health. The current study aimed to investigate the role of gender, romantic jealousy and attitudes towards intimate partner violence on relationship satisfaction while at the same time assessing the differences between emerging and young adults. The sample included 230 (149 females; 81 males) Turkish speaking heterosexual unmarried individuals between 18 to 30 years old who completed self-report measures including Multidimensional Jealousy Scale (MDJS), Intimate Partner Violence Attitudes Scale (IPVAS) and Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). Results showed that cognitive jealousy predicted relationship satisfaction. When participants showed higher jealousy, their relationship satisfaction was also high. There were no age period or gender differences on jealousy levels. Abusive attitudes were correlated with behavioral and emotional jealousy. Women showed more positive abusive attitudes than men. Participants with abusive attitudes were found to have higher relationship satisfaction. The role of additional relationship variables, namely being whether it's the participant's first relationship, the perception of relationship as ‘long term’, and relationship duration were also assessed. Perception of relationship as long term was found to positively predict relationship satisfaction. The results yielded no significant differences between emerging and young adults on any of the measures. The results are discussed in light of the traditional nature of the Turkish speaking emerging and young adults culture with implications for developing healthier intimate relationships. Keywords: Jealousy, relationship satisfaction, attitudes toward IPV