Self-disclosure and marital satisfaction among Filipino couples

• Main Author: Tordecilla, Maria Jennifer B.
• Format: text
• Published: Animo Repository 2003
• Subjects: Self-disclosure; Married people—Philippines—Psychology; Marital quality—Philippines; Satisfaction; Family, Life Course, and Society; Social and Behavioral Sciences; Sociology
• Online Access: https://animorepository.dlsu.edu.ph/faculty_research/12897
• Institution: De La Salle University

This is a pilot study conducted to determine self-disclosure among Filipino couples and its association wih marital satisfaction. About 45 parents from the UP Child Development Center (UP CDC) participated in the study. A four-part questionnaire gathered the needed data. These were analyzed using percentages, frequencies, ordinal positions, and Spearman Rank Order Correlation test. The findings of the study revealed that disclosure was considered as an essential component of marriage which adds to marital satisfaction. However, they did not seem to put too much emphasis on mutuality or reciprocity. In terms of the - content of disclosure, couples preferred selective disclosure, choosing to disclose positive things over the negative ones, or those which may hurt their spouses. The items disclosed fully were in the areas of money, work and family matters/relationships. No item under the area of personality was included. Marital satisfaction is positively associated with both the respondents' and their spouses' levels of disclosures. Among the recommendations cited, a follow-up study may be done, using a larger number of participants as well as non-verbal disclosure in order to see the congruence between verbal and non-verbal disclosures