The mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship between identity styles and sexual satisfaction in married teachers in Mashhad

Dissertation for Master's Degree (M.A) in Family Counseling

Abstract

The purpose of this research is to investigate the mediating role of social anxiety in the relationship between identity styles and sexual satisfaction. This research is descriptive and correlational. The study population consists of all male and female married teachers in Mashhad who were teaching in high school in the academic year of 1992-1993. The sample size studied in this research is 310 people who were selected using multi-stage random cluster sampling method. In order to collect data, Yaori Kermani's sexual satisfaction questionnaires (2006), Berzonski's identity styles (1989) and Jarabek's social anxiety questionnaires (1996) were used. In this research, the data were analyzed descriptively and inferentially by SPSS and Amos software. The obtained results showed that social anxiety has a significant mediating role in the relationship between identity styles and sexual satisfaction. Also, identity styles have a significant direct effect on sexual satisfaction. Overall, the results of this research confirmed the role of identity styles and social anxiety in the gender satisfaction of married teachers. Keywords: identity styles, social anxiety, sexual satisfaction, married teachers 1 Introduction In today's world of information and communication, where the advancement of technology brings people from different societies and cultures closer and closer to each other, human desires have become more and more modern and welfare, freedom, peace, and pleasure. And diversity has become more important. Therefore, "sex" has found a more important place and is considered not only in the category of physiological needs of humans such as thirst, hunger and the need for air and sleep, but also in the field of spiritual and mystical needs such as the need for beauty and perfection (Ohadi, 2015). Sexual instinct is one of the innate human needs.  So that Maslow [1] (1976; quoted by Vander Masen [2]; 2004). He placed this need in the category of physical needs or basic vital needs. In the context of sex, it can be said that although a happy married life is only partially related to sex, this relationship may be one of the most important causes of happiness or unhappiness in married life. Because if this relationship is not convincing, it leads to a feeling of deprivation, failure and lack of safety (endangerment of mental health) and as a result, family disintegration. (Shamlou, 2010). In expressing biological needs, sexual instinct has a deep fusion with psychological needs so that the impact of this desire can be seen in many dimensions of life (Byers and Demons [3], 1999). From a lexical point of view, the word sexual satisfaction refers to a person's pleasant feeling of the type of sexual relations. It should be noted that high levels of sexual satisfaction lead to an increase in the quality of married life, which leads to a decrease in marital instability during life. Hyde and Delamater (2000) have defined sexual satisfaction as satisfaction in sexual activity and emotional satisfaction (Hyde and Delamater, 2000). Sexual satisfaction is not only physical pleasure and includes all the remaining feelings after the positive and negative aspects of sexual intercourse (McNeil [4] and Byers, 2006). Sexual satisfaction includes a person's satisfaction with their sexual activities until reaching the peak of sexual pleasure (Spence [5], 1991). Marital sexual satisfaction takes place in two states: 1. Satisfaction with activities 2. Emotional and emotional satisfaction (Hyde and Delamater [6], 2000).  

A person's growth in social fields and compatibility with other people is one of the important factors in married life, the quality of which goes back to the earlier years of a person's life. Social anxiety, which is defined as an uncomfortable experience in the presence of others, is one of the factors that disrupts the process of social growth and development of people. Social anxiety disorder or social phobia refers to an obvious and continuous fear of social or functional situations and comes from the belief that he will behave in an embarrassing or humiliating manner in these situations (Ringold, Herbert and Franklin [7], 2003). The overall prevalence of this disorder is approximately 13% (American Psychiatric Association [8], 2011) and it is in the third place of psychiatric disorders after major depressive disorder and alcohol dependence (Nicholson [9], 2008; Kessler [10] et al., 1994) and if not treated, it is associated with a chronic and hidden period (Lamp [11], 2009) and a fundamental disorder in work and social fields, academic and family functions. and personal (Rappi[12], 1995) and causes a decrease in the quality of life of the person (Stein[13] et al., 2005).This disorder is the basis of personality disorders, mood disorders, anxiety disorders, and substance-related disorders (American Psychiatric Association, 2013), and therefore, in recent years, it has been considered as an important disorder in the field of public health (Fermark [14], 2002; quoted by Rapi and Spence [15], 2004). A person suffering from social anxiety has no desire to initiate communication with others and avoids any situation in which he may be judged by others with a feeling of fear and unusual persistence. These people may feel a lack of self-confidence; Because they think that others do not like them. In addition, these people are afraid of criticism, avoid eye contact and fear of self-expression (Hormozinejad, 2010). According to the definition of the American Psychiatric Association (APA, 1994), social anxiety is a permanent and specific fear of one or more social situations or performance that a person feels will be exposed to unfamiliar people or possible scrutiny from others and will be humiliated or embarrassed (cited by Masoud Nia, 2018).

People with social anxiety have characteristics that distinguish them from others. These people feel embarrassed and angry when talking to others. They worry about what other people think about them and get anxious when meeting new people. These people often think about making mistakes, ignorance and stupid words, they are afraid that others will think them weak and give them negative feedback. These people may feel a lack of self-confidence; Because they think that others do not like them. In addition, these people are afraid of criticism, avoid eye contact and fear of self-expression (Hormozinejad, 2010).   

Identity formation creates a platform for sincere two-way communication and participation in relationships. The study of identity has a long history and many theorists have addressed it in some way, but the concept of identity formation according to developmental stages was first proposed by Erikson (1959). Erikson (1965) defines identity as the answer to the question "Who am I?" knows The conceptual framework proposed by Erikson was followed by Marcia [16] (1968). By presenting a model of the four states of identity, he laid the foundation for further studies. In the last two decades, identity studies have been followed from the perspective of psychology with the actions and researches of Berzonsky (1968, 2000, 2003) (Omidian, 2018). Berzonsky (1990) investigated the role of personal epistemological assumptions in the formation of identity and concluded that people use different cognitive-social processes to solve personal problems, make decisions and process information related to "self" and finally form their identity. He believes that people base their identity on the basis of three different cognitive processing orientations, which he called identity processing styles (Hosseini, Suzesi, Hosseinchari, 2009). These three styles are: informational style[17]: people with this style are active, searching and evaluative, and they constantly seek to obtain appropriate information to shape their identity. Norm-oriented style [18]: This group of people pay more attention to the issue of social approval and social friendliness of behaviors and set their criteria for accepting values ??as the approval of authoritative people. Confusion/avoidance style [19]: This category of people avoid situations that require decision making. Also, they don't want to face their personal problems and they delay in dealing with the problems so much that the situation demands a certain behavior from them without having any special intellectual cost for them (Samani and Fouladcheng, 2015).

Now, according to what has been said, it can be imagined that social anxiety, identity styles and sexual satisfaction can be related or affected by each other, and investigating this relationship and impact can provide valuable and acceptable information to the community of teachers. married people and create a context for increasing awareness of the factors related and effective with sexual satisfaction in them. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of investigating the type of relationship and the influence of these three variables on each other in the community of married teachers.

1-2 Statement of the problem

One of the matters whose importance in married life is emphasized by researchers and experts in the field of behavioral and family sciences is sexual satisfaction.