The structural relationship of communication beliefs and marital commitment: The mediating role of communication patterns

Introduction: This study aimed to investigate the structural relationship between communication beliefs and marital commitment of couples mediated by their communication patterns. Materials and Methods: The statistical population of this study comprised all married students of Islamic Azad University of Mashhad in the academic year 2019-2020 who had more than three years of marital life. Through multi-stage cluster randomized sampling method, three-hundred students were selected and fulfilled Adams and Jones Marital Commitment Questionnaire (1997), Eidelson and Epstein Relationship Beliefs Inventory (1981), and Communication Patterns Questionnaire (1984). Data were analyzed using structural equations, SPSS-25, and AMOS-24 software. Results: The proposed conceptual model has a good fit. The direct effect of communication beliefs on communication patterns is significant and positive (P≤ 0.01, γ= 0.66) and on marital commitment is significant and negative (P≤ 0.05, γ= -0.47). The direct effect of communication patterns on marital commitment is also significant and negative (P≤ 0.05, ß= -0.67). Assessing standardized coefficients of indirect effects indicated that the indirect effect of communication beliefs on marital commitment (-0.45) is significant (P< 0.01, IF= -0.45). The explained variance of marital commitment in terms of communication beliefs and communication patterns was equal to 0.56. Conclusion: According to the findings, communication patterns are used as a mediating variable in the relationship between communication beliefs and marital commitment, and two variables of communication patterns and communication beliefs are able to predict marital commitment.