WHAT COMPONENTS SHOULD BE STRENGTHENED BY WORKING WITH A COUPLE TO INCREASE THEIR RELATIONSHIP SATISFACTION AND THEIR WELL-BEING?

"There are many schools of couple therapy, but none has emerged yet that would clearly dominate the rest. Therefore, it is extremely important to constantly search for new therapeutic practices and verify them in empirical research. The purpose of this study was to check the link between women’s self-esteem and their satisfaction in a relationship and well-being. Attempts have also been made to verify if there is a correlation between relationship satisfaction and well-being, and with the components of love: intimacy, passion and commitment (IPC). There were 116 women, aged 19 to 45, in a heterosexual, romantic relationship who participated in the study. A self-developed questionnaire was used to identify the phases of the relationship, as well as Polish adaptations of tools measuring self-esteem, life and relationship satisfaction. The results indicate a positive correlation between the level of women's self-esteem and their well-being (strong) and relationship satisfaction (moderate). Results confirming a positive correlation between women’s relationship and life satisfaction and strong positive correlations between love components and relationship satisfaction were also obtained. Moderate correlations between self-esteem and its subscales were also established: self-liking and a self-competence with intimacy. There was also a positive correlation of self-acceptance with the sum of the components of love as well as of passion and intimacy with well-being. Additionally, a positive relationship was found between self-esteem and self-acceptance subscale and life satisfaction. The data from regression analysis showed that the predictors of life satisfaction are self-esteem, relationship satisfaction and the sum of the love components. The results of this study contribute to research on close relationships, as well as to the therapeutic practice of couples. They can also have a practical dimension for individual psychological or therapeutic help. There is a chance that by developing self-esteem, as well as intimacy and passion in a client’s relationship, the therapist will not only enable her to increase satisfaction with the relationship, but also with life."