The mediating role of body dissatisfaction in the relationship between social comparison orientation and sexual satisfaction in married women

Document Type : Original Article

Authors

1 Master of General Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Alborz, Iran

2 Master of General Psychology, Psychology Department, Bueen Zahra Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qazvin, Iran.

3 MA. in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, Tehran West Branch, Tehran, Iran.

4 MA. in Clinical Psychology, Department of Psychology, Islamic Azad University, South Tehran Branch, Tehran, Iran.

5 MA. student in Health Psychology, Department of Psychology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran.

Abstract
The present study aimed to determine the mediating role of body dissatisfaction in the relationship between social comparison orientation and sexual satisfaction in married women. The current research is applied and is included in the group of descriptive correlational studies. The statistical population of this study was all married women who were referred to health centers in Tehran in the fall of 1402. The sample size was 385 people who were selected by the available sampling method. In this study, the short form of the Body Dissatisfaction Questionnaire by Cooper et al. (1987), the Social Comparison Orientation Scale by Gibbons and Banks (1999), and the Sexual Satisfaction Questionnaire by Hudson et al. (1981) were used as evaluation tools. The relationship between variables was tested with Pearson's correlation test and the research model was tested with structural equation modeling technique. The results of this research showed that social comparison orientation was able to predict sexual satisfaction in married women inversely. Also, social comparison orientation can directly predict body dissatisfaction and body dissatisfaction can inversely predict sexual satisfaction. Finally, body dissatisfaction can mediate the relationship between social comparison orientation and sexual satisfaction in married women (p<0.05).

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