MARITAL ADJUSTMENT OF PARENTS AND EMOTIONAL MATURITY AND SELF-ESTEEM IN ADOLESCENTS.

• Author: Asst. Prof. Rajesh jha, NDIIT, New Delhi
• CO- Author: Ashutosh ojha, PGDM, NDIIT, New Delhi

INTRODUCTION:

Child’s growth is main concern of this competitive world. Normal growth without additional support and support of right environment may absolute in today’s technological race. Child growth and grooming is mainly depends upon home environment first. Parents ideals and desires, their satisfaction rate with marital relationships and their child adjustment style, all can have a significant role on the formation of child behaviour and his/her psychological health (Rezaeeyan,2005).

This study is based on the relationship between marital adjustment of parents and emotional maturity and self- esteem in adolescents. The research has been conducted on parents between the age range of 30-50 years and age range of kids is 12-20 years. Based on the available information gathered from samples and data has been analysed using statistical tools and a conclusion has been drawn.

LITERATURE REVIEW:

Marital Adjustment

Marital adjustment is a process of maintaining an appropriate degree of individuality and achievement of common goals. It is very significant for experience sharing, respect of each other, individual needs, temperaments, maintenance of open lines of communication and feeling etc.

According to Spanier and Cole (1976), marital adjustment is a process, the outcome of which is determined by the degree of: a) troublesome marital differences, b) interpersonal tensions and personal anxiety, c) marital satisfaction d) dyadic cohesion, e) consensus on matters of importance to marital functioning.

Emotional maturity

The American Psychological Association defines emotional maturity as “a high and appropriate level of emotional control and expression.” Emotional immaturity, on the other hand, is “a tendency to express emotions without restraint or disproportionately to the situation.”. In other words, emotional behaviour that is out of control or not appropriate to the situation can be considered immature. It’s more like the emotional reactions you might expect to see from a child than from an adult.

Murray (2003) explains the notion of emotional maturity as the achievement of individual development in directing and controlling emotions in order to be accepted by oneself and others. This achievement is not automatically achieved with age. Emotional maturity will encourage someone to be open to experiences and be able to interpret positively.

Self -Esteem

According to Rosenberg (1965a), self-esteem is one’s positive or negative attitude toward oneself and one’s evaluation of one’s own thoughts and feelings overall in relation to oneself. Self-esteem is regarded as a personal psychological characteristic relating to self-judgment based on one’s values about humans (Alesi et al., 2012). Self-esteem implies an awareness of one’s value system and one’s emotional evaluation of one’s self-worth (Schunk, 1985). High self-esteem indicates a high level of social adjustment (Martin et al., 2014). An individual with high self-esteem and an individual with low self-esteem may respond similarly to positive input, but they could exhibit different responses to negative input. Specifically, people with low self-esteem tend to exhibit negative responses, while those with high self-esteem tend to be less affected, as they are inclined to reject or restrict the scope of negative feedback (Brown and Mankowski, 1993). Because self-esteem affects an individual’s success in social adaptation, reduced self-esteem can eventually lead to social maladjustment. The relationship between low self-esteem and social adjustment could create a vicious cycle that negatively affects the overall quality of life (Konrad et al., 2012). In addition, self-esteem is a critical factor in personal well-being because an individual’s self-esteem has a positive relationship with their psychological health, social adjustment, and quality of life (Boyd et al., 2014). Self-esteem has also been reported to have a significant association with body image and has been used as a criterion to confirm the validity of other measures (Alesi and Pepi, 2016). As such, self-esteem is important on both personal and social axes in a social environment in which people live alongside others.

METHODOLOGY:

Aim:  The aim of the study is to analyze the relationship between marital adjustment of parents and emotional maturity and self-esteem in adolescents.

Objectives

(1) To study the relationship between marital adjustment of parents and emotional maturity in adolescents. 

(2) To study the relationship between marital adjustment of parents and self-esteem in adolescents.

(3) To study relationship between emotional maturity and self esteem in adolescents.

Hypotheses 

H0: There would be no relationship between marital adjustment of parents and emotional maturity in adolescents.

H0: There would be no relationship between marital adjustment of parents and self esteem in adolescents.

H0: There would be no relationship between self-esteem and emotional maturity in adolescents.

Sample: In the present study a sample of 100 parents of age range 30-50 years and their kids in the age range of 12-18 years will be selected. The purposive sampling method will be used to collect sample. Research Design: The study will utilize Pearson correlation research design to assess the relationship between marital adjustment between parents and emotional maturity and self-esteem in adolescents. Statistical Method: Mean and Standard Deviation (SD) will be calculated using descriptive data analysis. Pearson inter correlation method will be used to find the relationship among variables. 

CONCLUSION:

Analysis based on statistical tools hypothesis has been tested and outcome of hypothesis test has been used to conclude the study.

·        H0:1: There would be no relationship between marital adjustment of parents and emotional maturity in adolescents. Null hypothesis of this hypothesis has been rejected that shows that there is relation between marital adjustment of parents and emotional maturity in adolescents.

·        H0:2: There would be no relationship between marital adjustment of parents and self-esteem in adolescents. Null hypothesis rejected. This implies that there is relation between marital adjustment of parents and self-esteem in adolescents.

·        H0:3: There would be no relationship between self-esteem and emotional maturity in adolescents. Null hypothesis rejected. This too implies that there is relation between self –esteem and emotional maturity in adolescents.

Overall it can be concluded that internal environment of home is very important for physical and mental health of a child. It is the level of marital adjustment that determines the emotional maturity in their adolescents. It is the level of marital adjustment of parents that determines the self-esteem in their adolescents and further it is the level of marital adjustment of parents that ensures self-esteem and emotional maturity in adolescents.

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