Introduction
Marriages play a significant role in society since they ensure community continuity. Moreover, marriages enhance intercultural diversity and the spread of various ethnic groups across the globe. While it is easy for two people, normally a husband and a wife, to come together and live, various aspects must be considered for a healthy and successful relationship. Marital relationships involve routine interactions between a couple as they try to achieve personal and family goals. Commitment is the willingness of the couples to do whatever it takes for their marriage to work. Teamwork is the collaborative aspect of the couples, determining their unity of purpose. Effective communication allows couples to express themselves to each other without fear and misunderstanding. Meanwhile, mutual intimacy denotes vulnerability and openness in a relationship. Therefore, commitment, teamwork, mutual intimacy, and effective communication are key aspects of a successful and happy couple relationship.
Key Dimensions of a Happy Couple Relationship
Commitment
While marriage may seem an easy thing to start, it takes dedication and a non-fainting heart to sustain it. Marital commitment involves the capability of married people to remain dedicated to the relationship regardless of the encumbering circumstances (Clyde et al., 2019). A committed couple is always ready to protect their partner and marriage image before the public. Marital commitment is three-dimensional: personal, moral, and structural. While the personal commitment level involves finding joy and pleasure in marriage for individual gain, the moral level stays in marriage because of being bound to a certain set of beliefs and core values (Blake & Janssens, 2021). Meanwhile, structural commitment occurs when couples stay in the marriage for the sake of other people such as children (Gopinath et al., 2022). Through commitment, couples can explore things that make them happy and satisfied.
Teamwork
Marriage is a collaborative social aspect since the couples compromise their endeavors in favor of the new relationship. Therefore, getting married means a new journey that involves sharing responsibilities. Marital teamwork involves a feeling of unity and mutual support on multiple fronts. Couples develop teamwork at the beginning of their relationships because they are always madly in love (Brien-Bérard & des Rivières-Pigeon, 2022). However, there is always a possibility of the togetherness fading as the days go by. Teamwork allows the couples to feel appreciated and helped in case of troubles. Moreover, through teamwork, the couples become successful in various aspects such as finances and raising their children (Braughton et al., 2022). Consequently, every party to marriage feels happy due to the common sense of unity in the relationship. Marital unity promotes happiness, satisfaction, and stability due to mutual efforts in overcoming problems.
Effective Communication
Effective communication is crucial for a successful relationship and marriage is not an exemption. Couples often face difficulties that require responsive intervention from their partners. For instance, a couple with a personal condition that is secretive must communicate with their partner to avoid misunderstandings. Marital communication is the capability of couples to feel safe and talk openly without fear (Sanford, 2010). Through effective communication, the partners feel satisfied and protected since they are always ready to intervene in any situation. Additionally, effective communication helps in avoiding instances of dishonesty that are detrimental to a successful and happy relationship (Le et al., 2022). A marriage where couples effectively communicate is stable, and none doubts each other’s intention.
Mutual Intimacy
Commitment, teamwork, and effective communication are not sufficient for a happy and stable couple relationship. The three aspects must be backed up by a sense of vulnerability, openness, and sharing. For instance, a couple needs to be open when communicating with their partners. Marital intimacy is an aspect of closeness and excitement among couples and takes place in four different ways: sexual, experimental, intellectual, and emotional. Experimental intimacy occurs when a couple bonds during leisure activities such as watching a movie together (McDaniel et al., 2020). Sexual intimacy involves the couples enjoying sensual and sexual activities (Balderrama-Durbin et al., 2015). Meanwhile, couples feel safe sharing their feelings through emotional intimacy. Intellectual intimacy allows the couples to share ideas and opinions that contribute to a successful marriage relationship. Through mutual intimacy, the marriage remains stable since there is a special interconnection and satisfaction from the couples.
Assessing the Dimensions
Various measures can be adopted to assess whether there is effective communication, mutual intimacy, teamwork, and commitment in marriage. I would adopt three significant measures to determine the presence of the dimensions, discussed above, in a marriage. Firstly, I will determine whether the couple is pursuing more than just happiness. The ultimate goal of marriage is not just happiness, but procreation among other social aspects. Committed couples will exhibit perseverance in their marriage even if there is no longer much happiness. For instance, if one of the partners falls sick and can longer provide conjugal rights, a committed couple will remain in that marriage. Pursuing more than just happiness means communicating and remaining intimate during difficult times.
Secondly, I would assess the dimension by determining whether the couples are inspiring change in each other. A marriage involves compromising individual happiness for the relationship’s sake. Consequently, the couples must exhibit some changes that benefit their relationship. For instance, if a married person stops their bad old habits such as drug abuse it means that they are committed to their relationship and finding happiness in it. Additionally, positive change indicates that the partners effectively communicate and exhibited intimacy for their betterment (Funk & Rogge, 2007). Lastly, I would assess the dimensions by determining whether the couples are setting good examples for others, including their children. Every person strives for success and happiness in marriage. Therefore, couples must exhibit mutual intimacy, teamwork, effective communication, and commitment to their marriage, setting an example to their children and others who want a successful and stable marriage.
Assessment Rationale
The chosen three assessments are crucial for any successful, happy, and stable relationships. Happiness is one of the ingredients of marriage since there is always a commitment to stay in the marriage for better or worse. Therefore, exploring whether the couples are pursuing more than happiness helps understand their levels of commitment, teamwork, communication, and intimacy. Inspiring a change in each other helps understand whether the couples are working in the interest of their relationship or not (Balderrama-Durbin et al., 2015). The assessment helps reveal the couple’s intention for their marriage and individual partners. Meanwhile, determining whether the couples are setting good examples for each other is significant. The assessment helps in determining the attitudes of the couples toward their marriage. Couples with a positive attitude will do whatever it takes to ensure that their marriage is the best example. Therefore, the chosen assessment is crucial in determining various aspects of couple relationships.
Conclusion
A successful, happy, and stable marriage is anchored on four dimensions: commitment, teamwork, mutual intimacy, and effective communication. The four dimension helps in determining whether a couple’s relationship is beneficial or detrimental to the partners’ endeavors. Commitment and teamwork enable couples to preserve marital problems and have a unity of purpose. Meanwhile, mutual intimacy promotes openness and understanding between a couple. The four dimensions can be assessed by determining if the couples are pursuing more than just happiness, setting a good example to others, and inspiring changes in each other. Therefore, a beneficial couple relationship is built on commitment, effective communication, mutual intimacy, and teamwork.
References
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