Gender-Wise Comparison on Emotional Intelligence and Marital Satisfaction

The research aims at exploring and comparing the marital satisfaction and emotional intelligence of people between age 25-65. Tools used were namely Marital Satisfaction Scale (MSS) and Exploring Emotional Abilities (EEA). A fairly representative data of 316 respondents was collected from Maharashtra, India. The analysis indicates a significant gender difference on certain areas of emotional intelligence, namely, openness to criticism, self management and empathy. A significant gender difference is also noted on two areas of marital satisfaction, namely, sexual relations and sharing household responsibilities, which can be traced to the socio-cultural influences. This has helped in understanding the relationship of gender with core traits of one's emotionality, which influence the marital relationship. Gender and Behaviour Vol. 5 (2) 2007: pp. 1388-1405