Relationship between some determinants of young adults' relationship and self-esteem in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic

Cilj istraživanja bio je dobiti uvid u odnos samopoštovanja i nekih odrednica partnerske veze, u kontekstu pandemije COVID-19. Uzorak je činilo 120 ispitanika u dobi od 20 do 30 godina koji su u romantičnoj vezi te imaju iskustvo zajedničkog života barem jednu godinu. Rezultati su pokazali kako ispitanici s većim samopoštovanjem imaju kvalitetniju partnersku komunikaciju i uspješniji su u rješavanju partnerskih konflikata, čime su prve dvije hipoteze potvrđene, no nije pokazana statistički značajna povezanost između zabrinutosti okolnostima pandemije COVID-19 i kvalitete partnerske komunikacije te uspješnosti rješavanja partnerskih konflikata, čime treća hipoteza nije potvrđena. Neočekivano, prilikom statističke analize pokazala se statistički značajna povezanost između zabrinutosti okolnostima pandemije i samopoštovanja, što je pružalo podlogu za daljnje istraživanje ovog područja. Također, pokazalo se kako roditelji imaju nižu kvalitetu partnerske komunikacije te su manje uspješni u rješavanju partnerskih konflikata, no nisu bili zabrinutiji okolnostima pandemije, čime je četvrta hipoteza djelomično potvrđena. Razlike obzirom na iskustvo zaraze pokazale su se statistički neznačajnima. Prema spolu, ispitanice su ostvarile statistički značajne bolje rezultate u kvaliteti komunikacije i uspješnosti rješavanja konflikata. Rezultati istraživanja upućuju na važnost daljnjeg istraživanja mehanizama putem kojih samopoštovanje korelira s kvalitetom veza, kako romantičnih, tako i drugih veza, omogućavajući rad na sebi, ali i partnerskim odnosima.The aim of the research was to gain insight into the relationship between self-esteem i some aspects of romantic relationships, in the context of COVID-19 pandemic. The sample consisted of 120 participants, aged between 20 and 30 years, who are in a romantic relationship and have an experience of living together for at least one year. The results showed that participants with greater self-esteem also have better quality of communication and are more successful in resolving conflicts, which confirmed the first two hypotheses, but there was no statistically significant correlation between concern over pandemic and quality of communication or conflict resolvement, which disproved the third hypothesis. Unexpectedly, significant correlation was found between pandemic concerns and self-esteem, giving base for further studies. Also, parents showed lesser quality of cummunication and were less successful in resolving conflicts, but were not more worried about the pandemic, which only partially confirmed the fourth hypothesis. Previous infection based differences proved statistically insignificant. Genderwise, women showed statistically significant higher results in quality of communication and resolving conflict success. Results indicate importance of future studies of mechanisms in which self-esteem correlates with quality of relationships, both romantic and others, enabling work on personal field, as well as partnerships