The Effects of Marital Conflict Management Program for Multi-cultural Couples based on Gottman Theory

The purposes of this study is to develop conflict management program for multicultural couples and to verify the effects on communication, conflict coping style, and marital satisfaction. 12 multicultural couples were selected to be assigned randomly to an experimental group and a control group. 6 couples were then assigned to each group, and took a homogeneity test to verify the effectiveness of the program. After the 6 couples in the experimental group had conducted a total of 6 sessions for 120 minutes, once a week, the quantitative effect was verified using statistical procedures. A pre-test, post-test, and follow-up test were conducted to measure the degree of improvement in experimental group vs. control group. These were verified through the Repeated Measure ANOVA, using the SPSS 25.0 program. To summarize the results of this study, these are as follows: First, the marital conflict management program for multicultural couples was statistically significant in reducing communication barriers (the ‘Four Horsemen’). Second, the marital conflict management program for multicultural couples showed significant effects in terms of requests for external help, rational response and expressions of negative emotions and behaviors, but showed little effect with regard to avoidance response. Third, the marital conflict management program for multicultural couples was effective in improving marital satisfaction. To conclude, this study has been effective in development of a successful program for managing marital conflict for multicultural couples and confirmation of its usefulness.