The Effectiveness of Communication Skills Training on Responsibility and Social Acceptance of Spouses

Extended Abstract
 
Introduction and Objectives: The family and the achievement of a healthy family depend on the members’ mental health and their desirable relationships with one another. Shared life begins with the belief that only death can separate us, and spouses, at least in the early stages of their marriage, firmly hold this belief. The social nature of humans necessitates interaction with various aspects of society and the groups within it. Communication has been one of humanity’s oldest and greatest achievements. One of the fundamental ways of socialization is acquiring communication skills.
Like a living being, the family undergoes developmental stages which begin with the marriage of two individuals, laying the initial foundations of this entity. With the arrival of children, the family continues to grow, going through a developmental period until the children marry, leading to a significant transformation in the family as the spouse finds themselves alone again. According to Maslow, human needs are hierarchical, and individuals’ behaviors at particular moments are influenced by these needs.
Given the challenges spouses face during their shared lives, which is a natural occurrence, and considering the importance and necessity of communication skills and their impact on daily life and marital success, examining these components can lead to important outcomes for spouses’ awareness of daily life issues. Thus, the main research question of this study is whether communication skills training effectively enhances the responsibility and social acceptance of spouses.
Method: The research methodology adopted in this study was experimental and semi-experimental, utilizing a pre-test and post-test design with both an experimental group and a control group. The study population comprised all spouses in the fifth district of Tehran in 2016 who sought counseling at various clinics, estimated to be around 50 individuals. Based on this approximate population size and the Cohen table for sample determination, 40 spouses were selected through convenience sampling, divided into two groups of 20 each. The research instruments included:

The Crowne-Marlowe Social Acceptance Scale (2011)
The Gaff Responsibility Questionnaire – 42 questions (1982).

The training sessions and practical exercises were organized across eight 90-minute sessions, where scientific material pertinent to the topics was presented to the parents. Half of each session was devoted to delivering scientific information, followed by a group discussion on exercises related to the training topics during the second half.
Findings: As seen in Table (2), the mean responsibility scores before the pre-test for the control group was 20.135, while the post-test score was 86.137. For the experimental group, the pre-test mean was 53.144 and the post-test mean was 66.168. In addition, the mean score for social acceptance on the pre-test for the control group was 60.20, while the post-test score was 93.23. For the experimental group, the pre-test mean was 26.19, and the post-test mean was 93.25. The F-value for the social acceptance variable was 75.977, and for the responsibility variable was 16.189, both showing significant differences as their probability values were smaller than the significance level of 0.01. After controlling for confounding variables, there was a significant difference between the means of the two groups. Hence, it can be concluded that communication skills training had a positive impact on both social acceptance and responsibility of spouses, with an effect size of 57% for social acceptance and 73% for responsibility, which is regarded as acceptable.
Discussion and Conclusion: The findings of the study revealed that communication skills training had a significant effect on spouses’ responsibility and its associated components—including conscientiousness, sense of commitment, diligence, seriousness, trust, rule-based behavior, rationality, and sense of duty. It can therefore be stated that developing communication skills among spouses plays an important role in enhancing their sense of responsibility.
In interpreting these findings, it can be noted that responsibility is one of the most valuable personal attributes, and its absence constitutes a major barrier to effective interaction with others, especially with people of integrity. Possessing a strong sense of responsibility can profoundly influence how others perceive us and lead to tangible increases in personal worth and social respect. Responsible individuals not only accept full accountability for their own actions but also consider themselves obligated to contribute positively to society and to serve others.
The results further indicated that communication skills training positively influences spouses’ social acceptance. In other words, improving communication skills can significantly enhance spouses’ ability to be socially accepted and integrated. Social communication and interaction were among the key elements emphasized by counselors in several participant groups.
The findings can be interpreted as follows: it is evident that all individuals—especially Iranian women, who play an active and influential role in social affairs—need emotional support and acceptance from family, friends, and their social environment to feel secure when facing daily challenges. The greater this sense of emotional security, the higher their psychological well-being becomes, enabling them to continue their professional and social activities with greater calm and confidence.
Acknowledgments: The authors express their sincere appreciation to all the spouses who participated in this study and contributed to its successful implementation.
Conflict of Interest: This study declares no conflict of interest.