Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the role of psychological factors and marital ‎satisfaction in predicting extramarital relations among married women in Yazd, Iran. ‎This is a descriptive correlational study and the population included all of the women ‎who were cheated by their husbands and have referred to family counseling centers in ‎Yazd city. Since the population was extensive, 150 individuals were selected by ‎convenient sampling. Mental disorders syndrome questionnaire (SCL-90), ENRICH's ‎marital satisfaction scale, and a questionnaire on attitudes toward relations outside of ‎the marital framework were used as the research instrument. The data was analyzed by ‎Pearson correlation coefficient and regression analysis. The distribution of the ‎population (normality of the data) was determined via Kolmogorov-Smirnov test. ‎Findings of the research revealed that the traits of interpersonal sensitivity, depression, ‎violence, phobias and psychosis are significantly related to the individual's attitude ‎towards relations outside of the marital framework; however, only anxiety and ‎psychosis has a meaningful correlation coefficient regarding the spouse's attitude on ‎extramarital relationships. In contrast to this, there is no significant correlation between ‎the other psychological traits and the attitude toward the spouse's extramarital affairs. ‎The results also suggest that there is a correlation coefficient of  -0.29 (P ‎‎<0.001) between marital satisfaction and extramarital relations‎‎‎‎‎‎.