Communication within Couples - Function and Dysfunction

Abstract

If we were to analyze most of the reasons for marital separation, we would come to the conclusion that many of them should have been subject to mediation rather than dissolution. The way in which the partners communicate as a couple positively or negatively influences the relationship between them and, through them, the relationship with the extended family. The level of self-esteem, fear of failure, fear of conflicts, dominance tendencies, cultural imperatives, etc. are among the main causes that influence the quality of communication between spouses. And if sociological and psychological theories see the conflict as only being a state that highlights the differences between partners, those that should later be subject to marital self-mediation, most individuals do not see the difference between conflict and scandal. They see conflict as an inevitable failure and its anticipation mainly creates the strategy of avoiding it than that of a frontal approach and solving the problem. Effective communication is based on the principle of openness towards the other and sincerity. The sincerity of one stimulates the sincerity of the other and the partners thus know the true feelings and needs of the other. The study aims to highlight the main resources of effective communication, insisting also on gender peculiarities in communication and specific dysfunctions in the message encryption algorithm.