Investigating the Effectiveness of Emotion-Focused Therapy on the Attitude toward Marital Infidelity and the Intimacy of Married People

Abstract

The present study aimed at determining the effectiveness of emotion-focused therapy on the attitude toward marital infidelity and the intimacy of married people. In this research, Single-Case experimental Design (SCED) of multiple baseline type was utilized. Statistical population of this research included all couples referring to the special center of counselling life path in Bushehr city in 2020 to solve their marital problems. Study sample included 4 couples (8 male and female) referring to this center, which were selected using volunteer-purposeful sampling method. Emotion- focused therapy protocol was administered during 10 sessions (one session each week) and lasted 90 minutes having two months follow-ups.  The utilized measurement tools in this study was a scale of attitude toward marital infidelity scale by Whatley and marital intimacy questionnaire of Bagarozzi, which were completed by the couples before the intervention and in three phases of the final line, treatment and two months of follow-up sessions. Data were analyzed using visual drawing method, Reliable Change Index (RCI) and improvement percentage formula. The results showed that emotion-focused therapy reduced the attitude toward marital infidelity and increased marital intimacy among couples. RCI indexes also indicated the significance of changes and the effectiveness of dependent variables. Having investigated these findings, it was found that emotion-focused therapy was effective on reducing the attitude toward marital infidelity and increasing intimacy among married individuals.