Psychological Well-being, Parenting Perfectionism and Marital Satisfaction Among Parents

Despite being often perceived as an exhilarating, joyful, and rewarding experience that differs from most other life milestones, parenting is a journey filled with enormous difficulties and anxieties.  Past studies have shown discrepancies in the relationship between psychological well-being, parental perfectionism and marital satisfaction among parents. Few studies show no significant relationship between perfectionism and marital satisfaction while others show a significant relationship between the two variables. Even though studies show a strong positive correlation between marital satisfaction and psychological well-being, few studies show discrepancies based on gender. The present study aimed to investigate the influence of psychological well-being, parenting perfectionism on marital satisfaction and differences in these variables among mothers (N=129) and fathers (N=72). The study used various tools such as Psychological Well-being Scale (alpha =0.88), shortened 12-item version of the Multidimensional Parental Perfectionism Scale (alphas- 0.81 for Self-Oriented Perfectionism, 0.82 for Socially Prescribed Perfectionism, and 0.82 for partner Oriented Perfectionism) and ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale (alpha = 0.936). Web-based survey was used to obtain data from 201 parents (72M and 129F) using convenience sampling technique. The results indicated a significant difference between mothers and fathers in their levels of autonomy, environmental mastery, self- acceptance, societal-oriented parental perfectionism, partner-oriented parental perfectionism and marital satisfaction.  Autonomy, positive relations and self-oriented parental perfectionism were found to significantly predict marital satisfaction, among fathers. Personal growth and positive relations were found to significantly predict marital satisfaction, among mothers. These observations highlight the need for personalized interventions and support structures to improve the well-being and marital satisfaction of mothers and fathers throughout parenthood and marriage.