Abstract

In this study, to determine the correlations among the three factors of self-esteem, couple communication and marital adjustment of Korean couples who live in different culture from western countries, and elucidate the roles of self-esteem on the relationship between couple communication and marital adjustment. A total of 248 married couples were surveyed their level of self-esteem, couple communication, and marital adjustment. There was a positive correlation at the .01 level of significance between couples' self-esteem and marital adjustment, between self-esteem and communication, and between communication and marital adjustment. And husband's and wife's self-esteem affected their own and their spouses' marital adjustment independently. In husband and wife, the mediating effect of self-esteem between couple communication and marital adjustment was shown. Although the mediating effect of self-esteem was not greater than that of couple communication, self-esteem also influenced on the marital adjustment significantly. And the mediating effect of self-esteem between couple communication and marital adjustment was greater in wife than husband. The results of this study show that each of self-esteem, couple communication and marital adjustment are consistently related, and self-esteem and communication of husband and wife affect independently and interactively on marital adjustment. When marital group counseling program for enhancing marital adjustment is being developed, the intervention strategy for self-esteem should be included in the program along with the skills for couple communication.