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  • Essay / Effects of Unresolved Issues on Marital Conflict

    Conflicts that lead to unresolved issues can influence marital quality. Although several research studies have been conducted on marital relationships, the factors that influence the occurrence of ongoing conflict are still unclear. Unresolved issues are issues that continually come up in a marriage. However, marital conflict is not the only source of unresolved problems in a relationship. Unresolved conflict within marriage can affect the longevity and quality of marriage, but personal history and individual trauma contribute to marital problems more often than conflict within marriage. In fact, marital conflicts are usually triggered due to unresolved personal issues. If a person develops a behavioral property due to environmental factors before marriage, or even during marriage, it can endanger marital satisfaction and longevity. A study by Carnstensen, Gottman, and Levenson (1995) aimed to explore emotional behaviors in long-term marriages. They came to the conclusion that older people often show more affection in their relationships while they marry younger or in middle age. Although older couples had conflicts before, affection and love were found to be the most dominant emotions. However, unhappy marriages exist in all age categories. This research suggests that optimizing positive emotional experiences and minimizing negative ones is the only way to achieve a happy marriage. Additionally, this suggests that some couples have learned to remain neutral during discussions and disagreements, so that they do not seek to change each other's opinions and beliefs. This behavior avoids the escalation of deeper emotional problems that could eventually endanger the marital factors that influence the quality of marital relationships, but the focus should be placed primarily on individual problems. A marital relationship requires harmonious coexistence and requires efforts from both sides to maintain it. If a person has behavioral problems, it will not be possible to establish a functional relationship with that person. If both parties in a marriage have behavioral problems, one party will start an argument and the other will follow. This will aggravate negative emotions and leave a lasting mark on marital satisfaction. Unresolved issues themselves have no influence on the quality of the marriage, but as long as people are willing to tolerate their negative emotions and withhold affection and respect from their partner, marital conflicts can turn into an ongoing process and degrade marital satisfaction over a prolonged period..