Abstract

The purpose of the present study is to compare the differentiation between satisfied couples, and conflicting couples in Bandar Abbas. Four components of differentiation (Emotional reactivity, Emotional Cutoff, Emotional Fusion and I-position) were investigated. 120 couples selected through available sampling procedure: 60 conflicting couples having recourse to counseling clinics in Bandar Abbas during 2010-11and 60 satisfied couples. To collect the data, Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI-R) and Index of Marital Satisfied (IMS) were used. To analyze the data, MANOVA and multiple regression analysis tests were used. The results of the study revealed that, there is significant difference between the differentiations of the two groups. There is no significant difference between men and women regarding the level of differentiation. There is significant difference between the Emotional reactivity and Emotional Fusion of the two groups. Furthermore, women suffer more from Emotional reactivity and Emotional Fusion than men. There is no significant difference between them regarding Emotional Cut-off and I-position. The multiple regression analysis showed that. The components of differentiation predict %56 of variance of the marital satisfaction. In nutshell, the satisfied couples had a higher level of differentiation in compare with conflicting couples that improved their marital satisfaction.