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ORIGINAL RESEARCH article

Front. Psychol.
Sec. Personality and Social Psychology
Volume 15 - 2024 | doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1460723
This article is part of the Research Topic From Childhood to Adulthood: Exploring the Role of Early Maladaptive Schemas in Child Development and Psychopathology View all articles

The association between early maladaptive schemas and romantic relationship satisfaction

Provisionally accepted
Lili Kover Lili Kover 1*Gergő József Szőllősi Gergő József Szőllősi 2Ede Frecska Ede Frecska 3Antal Bugan Antal Bugan 1Roland Berecz Roland Berecz 3Aniko Egerhazi Aniko Egerhazi 3
  • 1 Clinical Psychology Center, Clinical Centre, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary
  • 2 Faculty of Economics and Business Coordination Center for Research in Social Sciences, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hajdu-Bihar, Hungary
  • 3 Department of Psychiatry, Clinical Centre, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

The final, formatted version of the article will be published soon.

    Relationship dynamics could be shaped by schemas, and relationship satisfaction could be depend on how couples perceive each other through these schemas.The main aim of this study was to assess how early maladaptive schemas are related to relationship satisfaction for both males and females in a relationship, by highlighting factors that contribute to relationship satisfaction, with a particular focus on the interaction of schemas between males and females. The study involved a total of healthy 47 different-gender couples. Participants completed the Personal Assessment of Intimacy in Relationship (PAIR) and Young's Schema questionnaires. Actor-partner interdependence models (APIM) were created to assess which factors contributed to satisfaction. Our study identifies sex differences in early maladaptive schemas, revealing complex interactions within romantic relationships. Strong associations were observed between both sexes' maladaptive schemas, suggesting mutual influence. The emotional deprivation schema is associated with reduced satisfaction for both partners. For females, the abandonment schema is linked to decrased both their own and their partner's satisfaction, while the mistrust/abuse schema is related to lower satisfaction in the male partner. Social isolation and defectiveness/shame schemas are associated with lower female satisfaction but do not appear to affect their partners, whereas male satisfaction is reduced by vulnerability to harm. Schemas such as failure to achieve, dependence/incompetence and enmeshment show little association with relationship satisfaction. Approval-seeking schema is linked to reduced female satisfaction, and negativity/pessimism is associated with reduced male satisfaction. Our research provides a nuanced insight into the interactions between partners' schemas, thus improving the understanding of how maladaptive schemas may contribute to relationship outcomes.

    Keywords: relationship satisfaction1, early maladaptive schemas2, Actor-partner interdependence model3, Sex Differences4, romantic partner5

    Received: 08 Jul 2024; Accepted: 28 Nov 2024.

    Copyright: © 2024 Kover, Szőllősi, Frecska, Bugan, Berecz and Egerhazi. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.

    * Correspondence: Lili Kover, Clinical Psychology Center, Clinical Centre, University of Debrecen, Debrecen, Hungary

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