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‘Complementary-Equality ’ and Listening to Understand. Interpersona 2(2), 131-150. Relationship Satisfaction among South Asian Canadians: The Role of ‘Complementary-Equality ’ and Listening to Understand
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@MISC{Ahmad_‘complementary-equality’,
author = {Saunia Ahmad and David W. Reid},
title = {‘Complementary-Equality ’ and Listening to Understand. Interpersona 2(2), 131-150. Relationship Satisfaction among South Asian Canadians: The Role of ‘Complementary-Equality ’ and Listening to Understand},
year = {}
}
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Abstract
This study explored the ways in which adherence to traditional marital expectations in ones marriage was related to styles of interpersonal listening and marital satisfaction among Indo-Pakistanis living in a Western country. Participants (n = 114) were recruited from a large metropolitan city in Canada, were married, and their ages ranged from 19 to 67 years. They completed measures of marital satisfaction, listening styles, and traditional orientation to marriage. Results indicated that greater adherence to traditional marital beliefs were correlated with lower levels of interpersonal listening and marital satisfaction. However, closer examination of the traditional orientation subscales revealed that expectation of traditional husband and wife roles did not result in lower empathic listening in one’s marriage or lower marital satisfaction, but the lower degree to which one believed in upholding equality in undertaking such traditional roles did. Furthermore, empathic listening mediated the relationship between belief in equality in one’s relationship and marital satisfaction. The implications of these results for enhancing relationship satisfaction for Indo-Pakistanis are discussed. Key Words: Traditionalism, listening styles; South Asian; marital communication; cross-cultural relationships Marriage is by far the most important personal relationship for South Asians. The stability and continuity of a marriage is important not just to the members of the marital dyad, but to their family and community as a whole. Traditionally, South Asians expected their marriages to be arranged by their elder extended kin who continued to play a significant role in the couple’s lives. Husbands and wives expected each other to follow gender-based division of labour where the husband is responsible for financially supporting the family and the wife is responsible for 1
Keyphrases
marital satisfaction relationship satisfaction south asian south asian canadian empathic listening interpersonal listening indo-pakistanis living traditional role large metropolitan city one marriage traditional husband traditional orientation important personal relationship key word traditional orientation subscales cross-cultural relationship marriage gender-based division marital dyad significant role traditional marital expectation marital communication traditional marital belief couple life wife role western country
