Self-Esteem’s Correlation with Marital Conflict.

• Natalie Maurer, Human Services, University of Delaware

• Dr. Lisa Jaremka, Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware

Research has shown that self-esteem impacts various life factors, including success and well-being (Yasemin Erol, 2016, p. 274). This study aims to determine the correlation between self-esteem and marital conflict. Couples came in for a study and participated in a variety of surveys to measure different factors such as self-esteem and conflict. All responses were self-reported by participants to gain insight into their marital quality. We recruited 81 married participants (average age: 38.988 years; average marriage length: 10.271 years; 42 males, 39 females; 58 White/Caucasian, 13 Black/African American, 8 Asian/Pacific Islander, 1 Native American, 4 Latino) to complete self-reported surveys. The Rosenberg self-esteem scale was used to measure self-esteem, and a 3 item 7-point Likert scale was used to measure marital conflict. Data were reverse-scored and averaged to create composite scores. We are interested in determining if there is a correlation between self-esteem and marital conflict.This is important because many couples struggle with conflict and poor self-esteem potentially causing problems in their relationship. Pearson correlation analysis showed a significant negative correlation between self-esteem and marital conflict (p = 9.494e-05), indicating that lower self-esteem is associated with higher marital conflict. The results suggest significant correlation between self-esteem and marital conflict suggests that couples with lower self-esteem experience more marital conflict. The findings highlight the importance of addressing self-esteem issues to potentially reduce marital conflict.