PSYCHOLOGICAL FEATURES OF MARITAL RELATIONSHIPS

Abstract

The article examines the psychological features of marital relationships as an important factor in the stability of family life. The essence and psychological features of marital relationships are covered in the context of modern transformations of family values. The concept of family relationships as a system of emotional, moral and behavioral connections that ensure the stability and harmony of life together is revealed. Ukrainian and foreign psychologists’ scientific approaches to the study of interpersonal interaction in marriage are analyzed. The insufficient psychological readiness of young people for family life is noted to be the factor in destabilization of marriage relationships. The article presents the results of an empirical study of the peculiarities of interpersonal relationships of spouses at different stages of family life, and the regularities of their development are revealed. In the course of an experimental study we found that at the initial stages of marriage spouses are characterized by a high level of emotional attractiveness and authority, but a lower level of understanding. As the length of life together increases, the indicators of emotional attractiveness gradually decrease, instead, the level of mutual understanding increases, that indicates a transition from a romantic to a more mature, conscious type of marital relationship based on trust, acceptance and partner support. It was found that satisfaction with marriage has a wave-like character: the highest indicators are recorded at the initial stage of married life, they decrease during the adaptation period and partially stabilize in mature families, which reflects the patterns of evolution of marital relationships from emotional and romantic ones to mature and conscious relationships. The effectiveness of family communication was found to be changed with the experience of living together: young couples are in the process of forming communication patterns, middle-aged families show an increase in mutual understanding and emotional intimacy, and mature couples maintain stable communication, but it is less emotionally rich. It is established that marital communication is a dynamic formation that evolves together with the development of family relationships.