Marital Satisfaction During the Pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.63331/upasw/33/01Keywords:
attachment, pandemic, marital satisfactionAbstract
Understanding the dynamics of couple relationships during the pandemic requires, on the one hand, a theoretical anchoring in the major paradigms of contemporary psychology, and on the other hand, making measurements on the perception of mental well-being in relation to the experience of relationships within the couple. In our study, we drew on attachment theory, focusing on the influence of attachment styles on couple relationships and mental well-being. Most studies in this problem area have shown us that some factors that define couple satisfaction are related to the personal history of the relationship; other factors claim to be related to the level of intimate communication and sexual compatibility; many other factors stem from the personality of the partners, their emotional expressiveness, their education and the dynamics of their family of origin; the socio-economic and professional status of the couple and its members, taken individually, also matter; the time devoted to the couple relationship is also a double-edged sword for the level of satisfaction. In order to empirically verify what theory tells us is to be expected in a couple's relationship when the relationship is subjected to additional stressors over and above the usual ones (e.g., a quarantine motivated by stopping the spread of the flu virus), we carried out research on a sample of 452 subjects from various fields of work, i.e., 226 couples.
References
Ainsworth, Mary. “The Effects of Maternal Deprivation: A Review of Findings and Controversy in the Context of Research Strategy.” In Deprivation of Maternal Care: A Reassessment of Its Effects. Public Health Papers 14. Geneva: World Health Organization, 1962.
Aked, Jules, Nic Marks, Corrina Cordon, and Sam Thompson. Five Ways to Wellbeing: The Evidence. London: New Economics Foundation, 2008.
Arriaga, Ximena B. “The Ups and Downs of Dating: Fluctuations in Satisfaction in Newly Formed Romantic Relationships.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 80, no. 5 (2001): 754–765.
Aubignat, Céline F., and François Kraus. “Quel est l’impact de la crise du Covid-19 sur les couples ?” L’Observatoire du Couple. IFOP, August 2, 2021. Accessed [data accesării]. https://www.yeswebloom.com/observatoire-couple-ifop/impact-couples-crise-covid-19/
Bartholomew, Kim. “Avoidance of Intimacy: An Attachment Perspective.” Journal of Social and Personal Relationships 7, no. 2 (1990): 147–178. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407590072001
Bartholomew, Kim, and Leonard M. Horowitz. “Attachment Styles among Young Adults: A Test of a Four-Category Model.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 61, no. 2 (1991): 226–244. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.61.2.226
Baumeister, Roy F. Sensuri ale vieții. Tradus de Éva Kállay. Cluj-Napoca: Editura ASCR, 2011.
Beck, Aaron T. Cognitive Therapy and the Emotional Disorders. Madison, CT: International Universities Press, 1975.
Bowlby, John. Maternal Care and Mental Health. New York: Schocken, 1951.
Bowlby, John. O bază de siguranță: aplicații clinice ale teoriei atașamentului. Tradus în română, 2011. București: Editura Trei.
Charton, Laurence, Léoni Labrecque, and Joseph Josy Lévy. “The COVID 19 Pandemic: Global Impacts on Families.” Enfances, Familles, Générations 40 (2022). https://www.erudit.org/en/journals/efg/2022-n40-efg07681/1096375ar/
Crowell, J. Alan, Dominique Treboux, and Everett Waters. “Stability of Attachment Representations: The Transition to Marriage.” Developmental Psychology 38, no. 4 (2002): 467–479. https://doi.org/10.1037/0012-1649.38.4.467
Delage, Marie. “Comment s’attache-t-on dans un couple ?” Cahiers critiques de thérapie familiale et de pratiques de réseaux 2009/1, no. 42 (2009): 87–105. https://www.cairn.info/revue-cahiers-critiques-de-therapie-familiale-2009-1-page-87.htm
Dugravier, Régine, and Anne-Sophie Barbey-Mintz. “Origines et Concepts de la Théorie de l’Attachement.” Enfances & Psy 66, no. 2 (2015): 14–22. https://doi.org/10.3917/ep.066.0014
Dumas, J. E. “Home and School Correlates of Early At-Risk Status: A Transactional Perspective.” In At Risk Youth: Theory, Practice, Reform, edited by R. F. Kronick, 97–117. New York: Garland Publishing, 1997.
Ebrahimi, Ehsan, and Seyed Ali Kimiaei. “The Study of the Relationship among Marital Satisfaction, Attachment Styles, and Communication Patterns in Divorcing Couples.” Journal of Divorce & Remarriage 55, no. 6 (2014): 451–463. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2014.931759
Feeney, John A., and Penny Noller. “Attachment Style as a Predictor of Adult Romantic Relationships.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 58, no. 2 (1990): 281–291. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.58.2.281
Fivecoat, Heather C., C. Mazurek, C. N. Cunningham, K. Gandhi, M. W. Driscoll, H. N. Reischer, Q. E. Hendershot, R. Kritzik, and E. Lawrence. “It’s Not Us, It’s COVID: Individual and Relational Stress among Latine Couples Early in the Pandemic.” Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice 13, no. 1 (2024): 50–66. https://doi.org/10.1037/cfp0000222
Fraenkel, Paul, and W. L. Cho. “Reaching Up, Down, In, and Around: Couple and Family Coping During the Coronavirus Pandemic.” Family Process 59, no. 3 (2020): 847–864. https://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12570
George, C., N. Kaplan, and M. Main. Adult Attachment Interview Protocol. Unpublished manuscript. University of California, Berkeley, 1984.
Glowacz, Fabienne, Emilie Schmits, and Margot Goblet. “Les couples mis à l’épreuve du confinement de la crise Covid.” Psychologie Française 67 (2022): 285–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psfr.2022.06.002
Gozlan, Marc. “Amour et sexualité à l’heure de la Covid 19.” Le Monde (blog Réalités Biomédicales), February 14, 2021. https://www.lemonde.fr/blog/realitesbiomedicales/2021/02/14/amour-et-sexualite-a-lheure-de-la-covid-19/
Greenberg, Leslie, Nancy Malberg, și Mary Tompkins. Lucrând cu emoția în terapia psihodinamică, terapia cognitiv-comportamentală și terapia centrată pe emoții. București: Editura Trei, 2020.
Hesse, Erika. “The Adult Attachment Interview: Historical and Current Perspectives.” In Handbook of Attachment: Theory, Research, and Clinical Applications, edited by Jude Cassidy and Phillip R. Shaver. New York: Guilford Press, 1999.
Johnson, Sue. Ține-mă strâns în brațe. Tradus de Ana Mănescu. București: Editura Act și Politon, 2017.
Johnson, Sue. Teoria atașamentului în practică: teoria centrată pe emoții (EFT) aplicată la indivizi, cupluri și familii. Tradus de Sorana Oțetea. București: Editura Trei, 2020.
Josse, Evelyne. “Les couples à l’épreuve du COVID 19.” Résilience PSY, June 2020. https://www.resilience-psy.com/les-couples-a-lepreuve-du-covid-19/
Keelan, J. P. R., K. K. Dion, and K. L. Dion. “Attachment Style and Relationship Satisfaction: Test of a Self-Disclosure Explanation.” Canadian Journal of Behavioural Science / Revue canadienne des sciences du comportement 30, no. 1 (1998): 24–35. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0087055
Kirkpatrick, L. A., and K. E. Davis. “Attachment Style, Gender, and Relationship Stability: A Longitudinal Analysis.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 66, no. 3 (1994): 502–512. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.66.3.502
Levine, Amir, și Rachel Heller. Stiluri de atașament. O nouă teorie a atașamentului. Cum să găsești și să păstrezi o relație de cuplu fericită. Tradus în română. Cluj-Napoca: Editura ASCR, 2015.
Luetke, Megan, Darby Hensel, Debby Herbenick, and Michael Rosenberg. “Romantic Relationship Conflict Due to the COVID-19 Pandemic and Changes in Intimate and Sexual Behaviors in a Nationally Representative Sample of American Adults.” Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy 46, no. 8 (2020): 747–762. https://doi.org/10.1080/0092623X.2020.1810185
MacIntosh, Heather. “Coupling and Trauma in the Context of COVID-19.” Dr. Heather MacIntosh, 2020. https://www.drheathermacintosh.com/post/coupling-and-trauma-in-the-context-of-covid-19
Stackert, R. A., and K. Bursik. “Why Am I Unsatisfied? Adult Attachment Style, Gendered Irrational Relationship Beliefs, and Young Adult Romantic Relationship Satisfaction.” Personality and Individual Differences 34, no. 8 (2003): 1419–1429. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0191-8869(02)00124-1
Turliuc, N., and L. Ichimaș. “Stilurile de atașament și alegerea partenerului romantic ipotetic.” Analele Psihologiei, 2021. https://www.psih.uaic.ro/anale-psih/wp-content/uploads/sites/10/2021/01/8.-Stilurile-de-ata%C5%9Fament-%C5%9Fi-alegerea-partenerului-romantic-ipotetic.pdf
Wallin, J. David. Attachment in Psychotherapy. Reprint edition. New York / London: The Guilford Press, 2007.
Williamson, Hannah C. “Early Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Relationship Satisfaction and Attributions.” Psychological Science 31, no. 12 (2020): 1479–1487. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797620972688
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Anuarul Universitatii "Petre Andrei" din Iasi & POLIS BOOKS Publishing House

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.
Authors who publish with this journal agree to the following terms:
- Authors retain copyright and grant this journal right of first publication, with the work simultaneously licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License that allows others to share the work, with an acknowledgement of the work's authorship and initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are able to enter into separate, additional contractual arrangements for the non-exclusive distribution of the journal's published version of the work (e.g. post it to an institutional repository or publish it in a book), with an acknowledgement of its initial publication in this journal.
- Authors are permitted and encouraged to post their work online (e.g. in institutional repositories or on their website) prior to and during the submission process, as it can lead to productive exchanges, as well as an earlier and greater citation of published work (See The Effect of Open Access).