The effects of a couple communication program on passive conflict tendency among married couples

Abstract

The present study examined the effect of a 10-session couple communication program developed by the researcher on passive conflict tendencies an-long married coupics. The research was carried out with 28 married couples, 14 participants in the control group, and 14 participants in the experimental group. The design of the research was an experimental, pre-test post-test and a follow-tip model. Married couples' tendency of passive conflict was measured by the Tendency of Passive Conflict Subscale of the Conflict Tendency Scale (Dokmen, 1986). Mann Whitney U Test, Wilcoxon Matched - Pairs Signed Ranks Test and One-Way Anova for Repeated Measures were used to analyze the data. The results showed that the tendency of passive conflict among married couples who attended the program were lower than those who did not attend the program (p < .001). It was found that there is no significant difference between the pre-test and post-test scores in the control group. Follow-up administrations were conducted three and six months after the program had finished. There was a significant difference between post-test passive conflict subscale scores and the first follow up test scores in favor of the first follow up. It was found out that there was not a significant difference between the second follow up test scores, conducted after six months, and the first follow up test scores. It can be argued that the couple communication program has positive and permanent effects in lowering the tendency of passive conflict among married couples.