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Kenneth Jeppesen Bradi Petersen McKenzie Sanders Rachael Anderson Current Research Methods 3850
Introduction This study is focused on marital satisfaction as it relates to the effective communication of love. It has been hypothesized that there are five love languages, defined as: words of affirmation, quality time, physical touch, gift giving, and acts of service. In addition, individuals have a primary mode of love expression limited to those five (Chapman. 1992). Chapman posits that when a spouse communicates in their partners primary love language, love will be recognized and received, leading to an increase in marital satisfaction. Conversely, that many marital issues arise because couples are unaware of their partner’s primary mode of receiving love. A spouse may be communicating in a language that is native to them but nevertheless unintelligible to their spouse. Couples become frustrated as they show love and it goes unrecognized. Intimacy continually erodes as mixed messages lead to hard feelings and perhaps eventually divorce. Paramount to a healthy and happy marriage are positive communication patterns. Considering the significance the expression of love holds in the sphere of communication, it is of great value to determine the most effective means of its conveyance. Despite the wide-spread popularity and acceptance of Chapman’s theories, he has not cited any scientific research to base his claims on. Personal experience and anecdotal evidence from his years as a therapist are the foundation for his beliefs. While these direct observations have value, they cannot be considered conclusive proof. We are interested in testing his theory to determine its validity. The method we will use to gather data will be through surveys, given only to couples. Data will be collected at the workplace, Weber State University’s campus, malls, as well as in local neighborhoods. We will ask questions which have been designed by Chapman to determine the person’s primary love language. To eliminate bias, and make allowance for results which may not conform to Chapman’s rigid schema, we will include a battery of open-ended questions. These questions will not make mention of love languages and be generalized in an essay format. By doing this study we hope to find a correlation between marital satisfaction and the communication of a primary love language. It is anticipated that the data will generally confirm the love language theory with the exception of its specific and stiff caveats; in that, healthy relationships with high levels of satisfaction will use more than one method of love expression. Furthermore, we hypothesize that not all couples will receive love in the same way they project it. Studies of marital satisfaction which focus on such a specific aspect of the whole relationship are inherently limited. While we believe that love expression is one of the most major issues in overall marital satisfaction, it is only one of the myriad contributing factors.
Regardless of the findings, we believe that the information gathered will be able to help couples communicate more effectively and strengthen marital bonds.