Attachment styles and emotional intelligence in marital satisfaction among Pakistani men and women

The study examined the differences among attachment style and emotional intelligence and marital satisfaction in Pakistani men and women. The study had 204 (118 females and 91 males) married participants. The questionnaires included: the Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew & Horowitz, 1991) and the Emotional Intelligence Questionnaire (Schutte et al., 1998). Marital Relationship Satisfaction was measured by the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (Fowers & Olson, 1993). All the hypotheses were supported in the current research except one. It was supported that secure attachment style had higher emotional intelligence and individuals with higher Emotional Intelligence reported significantly higher marital satisfaction. It was further supported that attachment styles with a positive model of self (secure and dismissing) scored higher on dimensions of emotional intelligence than the attachment styles with a negative model of self (preoccupied and fearful). There was no significant difference in attachment styles with a positive model of self (secure and dismissing) in marital satisfaction than the attachment styles with a negative model of self (preoccupied and fearful).