The Predictive Effect of Social Values and Psychological Well-Being on Marital Life Satisfaction in Low-Income Families Receiving Social Assistance

Abstract

Introduction This study examines the predictive effects of psychological well-being and social values on marital satisfaction in low-income families receiving social assistance from the state in Turkey. The study group consists of 212 married individuals, 104 men (49.1%) and 108 women (50.9%), who were selected by convenience sampling method, living in the K & uuml;& ccedil;& uuml;k & ccedil;ekmece district of Istanbul, Turkey, and who agreed to participate in the study. We can say that the basic concepts related to psychological well-being consist of developmental theories that reveal the tasks of human beings in the development process, theories that reveal what concepts such as individualization, development, self-realization, functionality are, and the determinants of positive mental health measures. In short, psychological wellbeing and life satisfaction are related to many variables. One of the most critical variables is marital satisfaction, which is significantly associated with psychological well-being . When these studies are examined, there are significant relationships between marital life satisfaction and psychological well-being in the literature, and marital life satisfaction directly affects individual life satisfaction. Studies also report that factors such as emotional support and conflict management may indirectly affect the following. Therefore, it is thought that the relationship between the concepts of marital satisfaction and well-being and social values should be investigated in protecting individuals' mental and physical health. In conclusion, poverty has significant consequences for individuals. In addition, poverty also affects poor individuals' view of life and values. However, in the literature review, no study examining the predictive effect of psychological wellbeing and social values on marital life satisfaction in poor individuals receiving social assistance was found in the Turkish literature. This reveals the originality of the study. For all these reasons, the study was designed to examine the effects of psychological well-being and social values on marital satisfaction in lowincome families receiving social assistance from the state. Methods For this purpose, the relational survey model, one of the quantitative research models, was used in the study. Structural equation modeling and path analysis methods were used to determine the causal relationship between dependent and independent variables. In addition to the Personal Information Form created by the researcher as a data collection tool, the Psychological Well-Being Scale, Marital Life Satisfaction Scale, and Multidimensional Social Values Scale were used. IBM SPSS-25 Program was used for statistical analysis of the data. Ethical permissions and other necessary permissions were obtained at the beginning of the study. Findings and Discussion The results showed that the psychological well-being and marital life satisfaction scale scores of the study group were above the scale average, while the scores in the total and sub-dimensions of the multidimensional social values scale were below the scale average. Likewise, as a result of the study, a positive significant relationship was found between marital satisfaction and psychological wellbeing. In contrast, a significant negative relationship was found with the total score on the social values scale. Likewise, a significant negative relationship was observed between the sub-factors of the social values scale, namely work values, religious values, traditional values, political values, and marital satisfaction. In contrast, no significant relationship was observed between family values, scientific values, and marital satisfaction. The study tested the causal relationship between the variables using multiple linear regression analysis. According to the results of the analysis, it was found that the predictors explained 50% of the variance in the dependent variable. The results showed that religious values predicted marital life satisfaction negatively, and psychological well-being predicted marital life satisfaction positively. In contrast, work, traditional, and political values they had no significant predictive effect on marital satisfaction. It is recommended that this regression model, which was found to be significant, should be repeated in a different sample, renewed with varying tools of measurement, and tested whether similar research results can be reached with the results of this study. db