One of the main components of the human experience is creating and maintaining a meaningful and positive relationship with a romantic partner. Regardless of cultural differences, in almost every part of the world, people enter into some form of committed relationship in which satisfaction is of utmost importance. The literature on marital satisfaction shows that various factors, such as levels of interaction, traditional gender roles, conflict management, problem-solving style, and marital love, affect marital satisfaction.

One of the factors that has been shown in various studies to be effective in marital satisfaction is emotional intelligence. Couples with a high level of emotional intelligence understand their partners and their feelings in order to improve their relationship, regulate their emotions, and solve relationship problems. Meanwhile, based on the evidence, it can be said that the low level of emotional intelligence in couples reduces their quality of life and leads to marital distress. When burnout occurs, the disappointed couple puts more emphasis on the negative feedback of their spouse, and when the negative behaviors of the spouse are revealed, it probably becomes harder to change the behavior of the spouse towards the other party.

Temperament of each of the partners is one of the factors that can be the basis of a positive or negative relationship between them, and it has been considered in Iranian traditional medicine in recent years. Temperament-based training can help increase the compatibility of couples by correcting wrong nutrition and teaching behavioral and emotional methods to correct their temperament. Therefore, the present study aimed to investigate the effect of temperament-based training on satisfaction, emotional intelligence, and marital boredom in married women.

METHODS

The present semi-experimental study was performed with a pre-test and post-test design and a control group. The statistical population included all married women of Najafabad city, Iran in June 2023, which were 25,000 people. In total, 40 married women who had referred to a social health center (health center) were selected using the convenience sampling method. They were randomly divided into control (n=20) and intervention groups (n=20). The intervention group received eight 90-minute sessions. The inclusion criteria were female gender, an age of 30-50 years, being married, provision of informed consent for participation in the meetings, lack of participation in other educational or counseling sessions, and absence of severe marital conflicts and psychological disorders (as acknowledged by the participant). The exclusion criteria were absence in more than two sessions, unwillingness to participate in meetings, and lack of finishing assignments. The data collection tools were Marital Satisfaction Scale by Olson Enrich (1998), Couple Burnout Measurement by Pines (1996), and Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire by Shering (1995). The obtained data were analyzed in SPSS software (version 24) at two levels of descriptive statistics (mean and standard deviation) and inferential statistics (analysis of covariance).

RESULTS

The mean emotional intelligence scores of the control group at the pre-test and post-test stages were 84 and 83.72, respectively, while those of the intervention group were 61.42 and 70.84, respectively. The mean scores of marital satisfaction of the control group at the pre-test and post-test stages were 140.33 and 139.22, respectively, while those of the experimental group were 156.42 and 171.84, respectively. Moreover, the mean scores of marital boredom in the control group were 72.05 and 73.11 at the pre-test and post-test stages, respectively, while those of the intervention group were 60.73 and 50.15, respectively. Mean scores of emotional intelligence and marital satisfaction of the intervention group increased more than the control group at the post-test stage. Furthermore, there was a greater decrease in marital boredom in the intervention group, compared to the control group at the post-test stage.

Results of the tests of the assumption of the same variance of the groups, the normality assumption of the score distribution, and the same variance-covariance of the groups were confirmed (P>0.05). Results of covariance analysis showed a significant difference between the control and intervention groups. In other words, temperament-based education increased satisfaction (sig=0.001) and emotional intelligence (sig=0.001) and reduced marital boredom (sig=0.001) in married women (P≤0.05).

According to the theories of traditional medicine, attitudes and mental states of people depend on their temperament, and temperament can affect interpersonal relationships, especially marital relationships. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effectiveness of temperament-based training on satisfaction, emotional intelligence, and marital boredom in married women of Najafabad city. Temperament-based education seeks to change and balance the four main temperaments (blood, yellow bile, black bile, and phlegm). A person is expected to improve their behavior and relationship with their partner by knowing their own nature and correcting it through treatments related to their temperament. Therefore, in these sessions, the participants received training about the types of temperament and phlegm, characteristics of a temperate person, psychological characteristics of people based on their nature, and achievement of moderation by improving their lifestyle, which included an increase in awareness and replacement of unfavorable foods by foods that suit their mood or balance their bad mood. They also learned that lifestyle changes can change psychological states, help people to behave better, improve marital relationships, and solve the issues and problems between spouses appropriately.

It should be mentioned that the current research faced some limitations, such as the statistical population being limited to married women and the lack of a follow-up phase. Therefore, it is suggested that this issue be conducted on other statistical populations, such as married men with a follow-up phase, for the findings to be more generalizable. Iranian medical experts and psychotherapists can use the findings of this research to improve marital relationships.

Ethical Considerations

Compliance with ethical guidelines

After explaining the objectives of the research, written informed consent was obtained from the married women who volunteered to participate in this study. The participants were informed about the purpose of the research and its implementation steps. They were also assured of the confidentiality of their information and could leave the study at any time. Moreover, the research results were provided to them upon request.

Funding

This research was derived from a thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Psychology by Soudeh Enteshari and all financial issues were the responsibility of the authors.

Authors’ Contributions

The authors contributed equally to the conceptualization and writing of the article. All of the authors approved the content of the manuscript and agreed on all aspects of the work.

Conflict of Interest

Authors declared no conflict of interest.

Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all the people who participated in this research.