Examining the relationship between communicator styles and marital adjustment of married individuals

Marriage is an institution where the family relationship is formed and the new generation is developed. It is also a structure in which human relations are laid (Larson and Holman, 1994, aktaran Soylu & Kağnıcı, 2015). Marrital adjusment, which is the most important factor in marriage unity, is defined as ensuring balance to the requirements and wishes in the relationship (Tutarel Kışlak, 1999). Beginning from the age of the children, people start to connect with each person in his family with a different form of communication. Communication, which is the first stage of the interpersonal relationship, is both a need for individuals and a bridge that connects two different worlds. Many researchers in the field of psychology and social psychology point out that communication plays an important role in reaching the balance of the systems (Güngör, 2016). A number of studies have also been carried out on the importance of communication in marriage and marital adjustment. In the light of these, we realize that communication affects partners and marital adjustment. The pattern of this study was designed to investigate the relationship between marital adjustment and communicator styles of married individuals. At the same time, communicator styles and marital adjustment will be examined in terms of some other variables. The sample of the study consists of 246 married individuals residing in Izmir in 2019. In order to collect data, "Communicator Style Measure" and "Marital Adjustment Test" were used. Personal and socio-demographic information about the participants were collected through the "Personal Information Form" developed by the researchers. The data obtained within the scope of the research were analyzed with 22.0 Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). For analysis of the findings, t test, One-way Analysis of Variance (One-Way ANOVA), the Pearson Correlation techniques were utilized. As a result of the research; it was found out that the marital adjustment of married men was higher than that of women. It has been concluded that individuals at secondary and higher education level have more marital adjustment than individuals at primary and lower education level. It was determined that the marital adjustment of the individuals at low economic level was lower than the individuals with moderate and high economic levels. Individuals who marry in agreement have higher marital adjustment than those who are married and fleeing, and individuals who are married for the first years of their marriage have been married for 16-20 years. With the increase in the number of children, it was understood that the marital adjustment of the individuals decreased. When the communicator styles of married individuals are examined according to sociodemographic characteristics; while women use friendly, attentive and animated communicator styles, men use the precise communicator style. As the age of married individuals increases, argumentative, animated and dominant use of communicator styles are decreasing. Individuals who are literate use less friendly, more communicator image than other educated individuals. It is seen that the working individuals mostly use the styles of dramatic and communicator images and the individuals who do not work use the dominant communicator style more. Married individuals with high economic income use more relaxed communicator style. According to the findings of the relationship between married individuals' marital adjustment and communicator styles; as married individuals use impression leaving and attentive communicator styles, the marital adjustment of individuals increases. Furthermore marital adjustment decreases as married individuals use dominant communicator style. When the research findings were examined; it is seen that the communicator forms used by married individuals are related to marital adjustment. The importance of the place of communication in marriage has emerged and therefore, the process of communication between individuals before or during marriage needs to be supported.