Woman in Development & Politics

Woman in Development & Politics

Representation of Romantic Love Discourses in the Formation of Marital Conflicts in the First Five Years of Marriage

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Assistant Professor of Department of Psychology and Counselling, Farhangian University, Tehran, Iran.
2 Assistant Professor of Department of Counseling, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Alzahra University, Tehran, Iran.
Abstract
The objective of this investigation was to elucidate the manner in which the representations o​f the romantic love discourse contribute to the development and exacerbation of marital conflicts during the initial five years of marriage. The grounded theory approach was employed to conduct this qualitative study. Purposive sampling was employed to select 16 married women within the first five years of their marriage. Semi-structured interviews were implemented to accumulate data until theoretical saturation was attained. The Strauss and Corbin method was employed to conduct data analysis, which involved three phases of open, axial, and selective coding. Lincoln and Guba's criteria were also employed to guarantee the reliability of the data. The research model's primary category was the "idealized perception of love and romantic life," as indicated by the results. Within this framework, love is perceived as an automatically resolving conflict and a comprehensive provider of emotional needs, while the presence of conflict is interpreted as a sign of decline in love. The discrepancy between the imagined love and the lived marital reality becomes apparent as couples transition into married life and the initial emotional intensity diminishes. This can result in emotional disappointment, dysfunctional interactional cycles, threats of separation, and the escalation of family conflicts. Concurrently, this cycle may be mitigated through family interventions, counseling, and a reevaluation of the definition of love. The results suggest that early marital conflicts are not solely the consequence of communication or behavioral issues, but are also influenced by the prevailing discourse of romantic love, which shapes and directs married life through idealized and unrealistic expectations.
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