Trust, Romantic Love and Marital Satisfaction in Love and Arranged Marriage Couples

Marriage represents the union of two individuals shaped by cultural and societal norms. In contemporary times, the prevalence of love marriages has increased, influenced by Western culture, while arranged marriages remain deeply rooted in cultural practices specific to various regions. This study aims to explore the relationship between trust, romantic love and marital satisfaction among couples who married for love and those who whose marriages were arranged. From a correlational research design, the hypothesis asserts that trust, as an independent variable, predicts romantic love and marital satisfaction in both types of marriages. The study included a sample of 261 couples (147 love-marriage and 114 arranged-marriage from Lahore, Pakistan. The data collection utilized trust scale, romantic love scale and marital satisfaction scale, all adapted into Urdu. Statistical analyses included psychometric assessments, Pearson product-moment correlation, regression analysis and multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Findings revealed that romantic love was significantly correlated with marital satisfaction among husbands in both types of marriages. For wives, romantic love was seen to have a significant relationship with trust. However, regression analysis indicated that trust did not predict marital satisfaction or romantic love in either group. MANOVA results demonstrated higher levels of trust in love-marriage couples while greater romantic love and marital satisfaction was observed among wives compared to husbands in both marriage types. This research contributes to understanding the dynamics of trust, romantic love and marital satisfaction in different marital frameworks, offering insights for future studies and practical applications in relationship counseling and education.