Adult Attachment, Gratitude Toward Partner, and Relationship Satisfaction in Newly Married Individuals: A Moderation Analysis in a Pakistani Sample

Abstract

There is a strong literature on the relationship between attachment orientation of adults and their satisfaction in the relationship and gratitude toward their partner, with most of this literature originating from individualistic societies found in the West, with little research available on how the two factors interact in early marriage in collectivist societies like Pakistan. The aims were to consider the connections between adult attachment, satisfaction with partner and satisfaction in the overall relationship in newlyweds, to test the effect of adult attachment on satisfaction beyond gratitude, to test the moderating effect of gratitude between the adult attachment and satisfaction association and to explore gender differences. Quantitative, Cross-sectional Correlational Design, with a purposive sample (and snow ball) of 200 legally married persons aged 20-40 years (101 males and 99 females) with a marriage period of up to four years. Participants filled out the Experiences in Close Relationships–Revised (ECR-R; total score), the Gratitude Questionnaire–6 (GQ-6), and the Relationship Assessment Scale (RAS). Pearson correlation, hierarchical multiple regression, independent-samples t tests, and PROCESS Macro Model 1 were used for data analysis. Adult attachment was positively correlated with relationship satisfaction (r(198) = .143, p = .043), and uniquely predicted relationship satisfaction when controlling for gratitude (β = .143, p = .045), with the addition of the reported variance (ΔR² = .020) being very small and not large enough to rule out the possibility of random error. Gratitude was unrelated to attachment (r = −.104, p = .145) and to satisfaction (r = −.019, p = .789), and did not moderate the attachment–satisfaction association (B = 0.002, p = .226). There was a non-significant difference between the genders for gratitude; women reported higher attachment scores than men (d = −0.43, p = .003), but there was no significant difference between the genders for satisfaction. Satisfaction was modestly correlated with attachment independent of gratitude in this sample of early married couples. The direction of the attachment effect was contrary to theory, and should be replicated with separate scores on anxiety and avoidance scales and dyadic, longitudinal designs.