Marital Dissatisfaction, Coping Mechanisms, and Likelihood of Divorce among Selected Districts of Jimma Zone, South-Westethiopia

Abstract

Marital satisfaction is a mental state that portrays the person's perceived benefits and costs in ones marital relationship and has been an important area of inquiry and intervention for many researchers and practitioners. The primary quest of this empirical endeavor is determining the level of marital dissatisfaction, the coping mechanisms and its relationship with divorce in the study area. To address the desired objectives, 240 married couples were surveyed and the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale to measure marital satisfaction was used as a major instrument. Key informant interview was used to collect qualitative data. Both descriptive and inferential statistics was used to analysis the quantitative data. Results indicated sizable numbers of couples are dissatisfied in their marital relationship in one way or another. In addition, it's understood that marital dissatisfaction is a necessary but not sufficient condition for the occurrence of divorce. Though couples try to negotiate among themselves to settle their marital discontent, the majority preferred the advisory of elders.