Body Image Concern, Sexual Esteem and Marital Satisfaction in Young Married Adults

Abstract

This correlational research aims to study body image concerns, sexual esteem and marital satisfaction in young married adults. The sample consist of N = 163 young married adults from Lahore, Pakistan. The measures included Body Image Concern Scale (He et al., 2017), Sexual Esteem Scale (Snell & Papini, 1989) and ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (Fowers & Olson, 1993) in addition to demographic information sheet. The findings revealed that body image concerns negatively (-0.34, p < .001) while sexual esteem positively (0.42, p < .001) relates to marital satisfaction. Significant gender differences revealed that men tend to have better sexual esteem (t = 2.90, df = 161, p <0.01) and marital satisfaction (t = 2.01, df = 161, p <0.05) than women. Increase in total family income, marital satisfaction tends to increase. The mediation analysis revealed that sexual esteem serves as a mediator between concerns about body image and marital satisfaction. The study implies potential development of therapeutic interventions for enhancing marriage satisfaction and addressing societal stigmatization of body ideals for improved marital quality.