The Relationship between the Child’s Perception of the Parental Marital Adjustment and the Self-Acceptance of the Child

The major purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between the level of marital adjustment the child perceives the parents as having obtained and the degree of self-acceptance exhibited by the child. It has been proposed by theorists and researchers that the individual is influenced by his environment as it appears to him.The perception of the environment leads to the development of concepts concerning self, others, and situations.Thus, it becomes necessary to discover the concepts which the child has concerning the parental marital adjustment based on his perception of the situation. A secondary purpose of this study is to determine if a relationship exists between the child’s perception of the parental marital adjustment and the parent’s perception of their marital situation. On the basis of current personality theory and prior research in this area, two hypotheses are proposed:(1) High parental martial adjustment as perceived by the child will be significantly related to high self-acceptance of the child. Low parental marital adjustment as perceived by the child, on the other hand, will be related to low self-acceptance of the child. (2) No significant relationship exists between the parental marital adjustment as perceived by the child and the parental marital adjustment as perceived by the parents. Advisor: John Edward