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Volume 25, Issue 3 (Autumn 2023)
Advances in Cognitive Sciences 2023, 25(3): 77-94 |
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Ethics code: IR.IAU.ARAK.REC.1401.077
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Fazaeli T, Heydari H, Hamidipour R. Investigating the relationship between executive functions and marital satisfaction in couples: The mediating role of theory of mind. Advances in Cognitive Sciences 2023; 25 (3) :77-94
URL: http://icssjournal.ir/article-1-1533-en.html
URL: http://icssjournal.ir/article-1-1533-en.html
1- PhD Student in Counseling, Department of Counseling, Faculty of Humanities, Khomein Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomein, Iran
2- Associate Professor of Counseling Department, Faculty of Humanities, Khomein Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomein, Iran
3- Assistant Professor of Counseling Department, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
2- Associate Professor of Counseling Department, Faculty of Humanities, Khomein Branch, Islamic Azad University, Khomein, Iran
3- Assistant Professor of Counseling Department, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran
Abstract: (766 Views)
Introduction
Family and employment are indispensable components of modern life (1) In this regard, in recent years, the employment of both partners has given rise to widespread changes in family structure and roles (2). Changes in the roles along with those in relationships and family structures in families, including employed couples, result in various issues that can affect not only family life but also working life (3). Marital satisfaction is among the most crucial aspects related to family life that a couple's employment can influence (4). A satisfactory life can lead to more flexibility in managing life burdens, lowering the risk of mental harm, better adaptation, longer life, and lowering emotional health problems (8).
Executive functions are regarded as one of the most fundamental aspects of cognitive performance, which turns to control (regulatory) mechanisms mainly used to regulate human cognition and behaviors (47).
Theory of mind can play a mediatory role between the variables of executive functions and marital satisfaction. Understanding the relationship between these variables can not only improve and enhance life satisfaction but can also help resolve marital problems and conflicts.
The current study aimed to design a marital satisfaction model based on executive functions with the mediatory role of the theory of mind among employed couples.
Methods
The current study can be classified as primary research as far as the research purpose is concerned, and in terms of the data collection procedure, it can be regarded as descriptive-correlational research. The research sample of this study included all employed couples in Tehran, Iran, in 2022. The sampling procedure was clustering-stratified so that two regions were randomly selected from the twenty-two Tehran regions. Then, the intended qualified couples to participate in the research were chosen in each region. There were eleven noticeable variables for each of which twenty participants were considered. The number of two hundred and twenty participants is adequate for the research sample. Accordingly, given the burden involved, five hundred and ten participants were regarded so that the researcher could gain access to the desired sample in case of attrition based on the opinions of specialized figures. Among this group, data from five hundred individuals were suitable for analysis. The instruments applied in the current study were as follows:
Barkly Executive Functions Scale: This eighty-nine-statement scale is a self-report instrument that applies for the age range of eighteen to eighty-one and includes five sub-scales which measure five actions including executive action of self-management of time, self-organization– problem-solving, self-control-inhibition, self-motivation, and self-discipline. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for sub-scales lay within the range of 0.80 and 0.92, whereas for the whole scale, the figure was 0.96.
Visual Stories Assignment of Theory of Mind: Corcoran, Cahill, and Frith (1997) introduced visual stories to assess the theory of mind, including six visual story cartoons. in this assignment, the participants were asked to put a series of pictures correctly. In the case of failure, the participants were guided by the researcher, and later, they were asked to provide oral explanations for each picture and answer some incorrect beliefs. Correct ordering of the pictures received six points and correct answers to questions were assigned one score. Higher scores are indicative of a person's higher capability in theory of mind. This scale was administered in Iran by Mashhadi et al. (2015), and a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was reported using alpha Cronbach reliability (35).
Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale: This scale consists of thirty-five items, which measure four sub-scales of idealistic distortion, marital satisfaction, communication, and conflict resolution. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.68 was attained in this study (39).
Results
The education of 11% of couples was post-graduate, 50.6% had a bachelor's degree, 33.4% post-graduate degree, and 5% had a PhD 33.4% of the couples were between 25 and 35 years old, 42.4% were between 35 and 45 years old, and 25.2% were 45 years old and older. Besides, 37.8% of couples had one child, 46% had two children, and 16.2% had three or more children.
The results indicated that none of the research variables had a considerable deviation from normal distribution, and skewness of score distribution lay within the range of +2 and -2, while the kurtosis lay within the range of +3 and -3. Hence, the conclusion can be drawn that data are normally distributed.
Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was drawn to analyze the linear relationship between predicting variables, which was lower than ten for all variables. Furthermore, statistics on tolerance were reported to be 0.2 in this study. The frequency table was used to pinpoint univariate outliers, reporting no outliers. Additionally, the results of the Pearson correlation indicated a negative significant correlation between executive functions and marital satisfaction, whereas a positive significant correlation exists between the theory of mind and marital satisfaction (P<0.001).
Results showed that the direct paths between executive functions and theory of mind (β=-0.398) (P=0.001) and that of marital satisfaction (β=-0.511) (P=0.001) are significant. Moreover, the bootstrap test in macro program was used to investigate the effect of the mediator variable of the theory of mind in the relationship between executive functions and marital satisfaction, the results of which are indicative of an indirect correlational path. Express differently, the theory of mind as a mediator variable between executive functions and marital satisfaction can directly affect the relationship between these variables. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that the theory of mind plays a mediatory role in the association between executive functions and marital satisfaction among employed couples.
Conclusion
The attained findings from the intended model showed that the theory of mind exerts a mediatory role in creating a relationship between executive function and marital satisfaction. A point can be made to account for these findings regarding the common nervous origin between executive functions and the theory of mind. Imaging studies proved that activities of different frontal regions are involved in the theory of mind and executive functions (53). By affecting the frontal region of the brain, executive functions can strengthen planning during the cognitive processes in the brain and create more constructive social interactions and social behaviors, including theory of mind (52). In addition, in some executive functions, such as cognitive flexibility, it is considerably required that people understand how people feel and think (53). Therefore, any injury to the frontal region can result in a person’s inability to perceive emotional messages and respond to them. Moreover, research in developmental psychology approves the relationship between executive functions and social awareness, particularly the ability to perceive one’s psychological conditions and those of others (54).
Ethical considerations
All subjects who participated in the research were assured that all their information would remain confidential and only be used for research purposes. In order to respect the privacy of the subjects, the details were not recorded, and their information was analyzed based on the code. Before conducting the research, informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Authors’ contribution
Tahereh Fazaeli and Hasan Heydari were involved in choosing the topic, designing the study, and defining the concepts. All authors conducted a literature search. Tahereh Fazaeli analyzed the data. All authors discussed the results and participated in editing the final version of the article.
Funding
No financial aid was received from any organization to conduct this research.
Acknowledgments
The present study is taken from the PhD dissertation of the first author at the Islamic Azad University, Khomein Branch. The authors thank all the people who helped us implement of this research.
Conflict of interest
The authors have not reported any conflict of interest.
Family and employment are indispensable components of modern life (1) In this regard, in recent years, the employment of both partners has given rise to widespread changes in family structure and roles (2). Changes in the roles along with those in relationships and family structures in families, including employed couples, result in various issues that can affect not only family life but also working life (3). Marital satisfaction is among the most crucial aspects related to family life that a couple's employment can influence (4). A satisfactory life can lead to more flexibility in managing life burdens, lowering the risk of mental harm, better adaptation, longer life, and lowering emotional health problems (8).
Executive functions are regarded as one of the most fundamental aspects of cognitive performance, which turns to control (regulatory) mechanisms mainly used to regulate human cognition and behaviors (47).
Theory of mind can play a mediatory role between the variables of executive functions and marital satisfaction. Understanding the relationship between these variables can not only improve and enhance life satisfaction but can also help resolve marital problems and conflicts.
The current study aimed to design a marital satisfaction model based on executive functions with the mediatory role of the theory of mind among employed couples.
Methods
The current study can be classified as primary research as far as the research purpose is concerned, and in terms of the data collection procedure, it can be regarded as descriptive-correlational research. The research sample of this study included all employed couples in Tehran, Iran, in 2022. The sampling procedure was clustering-stratified so that two regions were randomly selected from the twenty-two Tehran regions. Then, the intended qualified couples to participate in the research were chosen in each region. There were eleven noticeable variables for each of which twenty participants were considered. The number of two hundred and twenty participants is adequate for the research sample. Accordingly, given the burden involved, five hundred and ten participants were regarded so that the researcher could gain access to the desired sample in case of attrition based on the opinions of specialized figures. Among this group, data from five hundred individuals were suitable for analysis. The instruments applied in the current study were as follows:
Barkly Executive Functions Scale: This eighty-nine-statement scale is a self-report instrument that applies for the age range of eighteen to eighty-one and includes five sub-scales which measure five actions including executive action of self-management of time, self-organization– problem-solving, self-control-inhibition, self-motivation, and self-discipline. Cronbach's alpha coefficients for sub-scales lay within the range of 0.80 and 0.92, whereas for the whole scale, the figure was 0.96.
Visual Stories Assignment of Theory of Mind: Corcoran, Cahill, and Frith (1997) introduced visual stories to assess the theory of mind, including six visual story cartoons. in this assignment, the participants were asked to put a series of pictures correctly. In the case of failure, the participants were guided by the researcher, and later, they were asked to provide oral explanations for each picture and answer some incorrect beliefs. Correct ordering of the pictures received six points and correct answers to questions were assigned one score. Higher scores are indicative of a person's higher capability in theory of mind. This scale was administered in Iran by Mashhadi et al. (2015), and a reliability coefficient of 0.75 was reported using alpha Cronbach reliability (35).
Enrich Marital Satisfaction Scale: This scale consists of thirty-five items, which measure four sub-scales of idealistic distortion, marital satisfaction, communication, and conflict resolution. Cronbach's alpha coefficient of 0.68 was attained in this study (39).
Results
The education of 11% of couples was post-graduate, 50.6% had a bachelor's degree, 33.4% post-graduate degree, and 5% had a PhD 33.4% of the couples were between 25 and 35 years old, 42.4% were between 35 and 45 years old, and 25.2% were 45 years old and older. Besides, 37.8% of couples had one child, 46% had two children, and 16.2% had three or more children.
The results indicated that none of the research variables had a considerable deviation from normal distribution, and skewness of score distribution lay within the range of +2 and -2, while the kurtosis lay within the range of +3 and -3. Hence, the conclusion can be drawn that data are normally distributed.
Variance Inflation Factor (VIF) was drawn to analyze the linear relationship between predicting variables, which was lower than ten for all variables. Furthermore, statistics on tolerance were reported to be 0.2 in this study. The frequency table was used to pinpoint univariate outliers, reporting no outliers. Additionally, the results of the Pearson correlation indicated a negative significant correlation between executive functions and marital satisfaction, whereas a positive significant correlation exists between the theory of mind and marital satisfaction (P<0.001).
Results showed that the direct paths between executive functions and theory of mind (β=-0.398) (P=0.001) and that of marital satisfaction (β=-0.511) (P=0.001) are significant. Moreover, the bootstrap test in macro program was used to investigate the effect of the mediator variable of the theory of mind in the relationship between executive functions and marital satisfaction, the results of which are indicative of an indirect correlational path. Express differently, the theory of mind as a mediator variable between executive functions and marital satisfaction can directly affect the relationship between these variables. Therefore, the conclusion can be drawn that the theory of mind plays a mediatory role in the association between executive functions and marital satisfaction among employed couples.
Conclusion
The attained findings from the intended model showed that the theory of mind exerts a mediatory role in creating a relationship between executive function and marital satisfaction. A point can be made to account for these findings regarding the common nervous origin between executive functions and the theory of mind. Imaging studies proved that activities of different frontal regions are involved in the theory of mind and executive functions (53). By affecting the frontal region of the brain, executive functions can strengthen planning during the cognitive processes in the brain and create more constructive social interactions and social behaviors, including theory of mind (52). In addition, in some executive functions, such as cognitive flexibility, it is considerably required that people understand how people feel and think (53). Therefore, any injury to the frontal region can result in a person’s inability to perceive emotional messages and respond to them. Moreover, research in developmental psychology approves the relationship between executive functions and social awareness, particularly the ability to perceive one’s psychological conditions and those of others (54).
Ethical considerations
All subjects who participated in the research were assured that all their information would remain confidential and only be used for research purposes. In order to respect the privacy of the subjects, the details were not recorded, and their information was analyzed based on the code. Before conducting the research, informed consent was obtained from all participants.
Authors’ contribution
Tahereh Fazaeli and Hasan Heydari were involved in choosing the topic, designing the study, and defining the concepts. All authors conducted a literature search. Tahereh Fazaeli analyzed the data. All authors discussed the results and participated in editing the final version of the article.
Funding
No financial aid was received from any organization to conduct this research.
Acknowledgments
The present study is taken from the PhD dissertation of the first author at the Islamic Azad University, Khomein Branch. The authors thank all the people who helped us implement of this research.
Conflict of interest
The authors have not reported any conflict of interest.
Type of Study: Research |
Received: 2023/03/13 | Accepted: 2023/10/12 | Published: 2023/12/13
Received: 2023/03/13 | Accepted: 2023/10/12 | Published: 2023/12/13
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