The Relationship Between Social Media Usage and Adherence to Religious Beliefs with Marital Satisfaction Among Married Students of Payame Noor Universities in Gilan Province

Subject Areas :

Khadijeh Hatamipour ¹ , Abolfazl Merrikhi Shalmani ² , Hoora Nabizadeh ^{3 *}

1 - Department of Nursing., To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran
2 - 2. M.Sc in Counseling Psychology., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran.
3 - 3. Department of Psychology., To.C., Islamic Azad University, Tonekabon, Iran.

Received: 2025-08-10 Accepted : 2025-08-24 Published : 2025-09-28

Keywords: Social Media, Religion, Personal Satisfaction,

Abstract :

Background and Aim: The present study aims to determine the amount of use of Cyberspace and practicing religious beliefs with marital satisfaction among married students of Payam Noor University in Guilan Province in 2023. Materials and Methods: This study was descriptive-correlational. The statistical population consisted of 400 married students of Payam Noor University in Guilan Province, of whom 196 were determined using the Cochran formula and selected using a random cluster sampling method. Data were collected using the Religious Beliefs Questionnaire (Golzar, 2018), the Enrich Marital Satisfaction Questionnaire (Olson, 1998), and the Social Media Use Questionnaire (Sahraei, 2012). The data were analyzed using SPSS version 22 software. The Kolmogorov-Smirnov test was used to examine the normality of the data. Pearson correlation analysis, bivariate regression, and multivariate regression were used to test the research hypotheses. Results: The results indicated a positive and direct relationship between adherence to religious beliefs and marital satisfaction among the students (β = 0.528, t = 9.98, p < 0.001). Overall, these variables predicted 42.2% of the variance in students’ marital satisfaction (R² = 0.422, adjusted R² = 0.416, F (2, 193) = 70.316, p < 0.001). Furthermore, the negative coefficient between social media usage and marital satisfaction indicates an inverse relationship (β = -0.240, t = -4.133, p < 0.001). between social media usage and marital satisfaction. Conclusion: Greater adherence to religious beliefs increases marital satisfaction, whereas excessive use of cyberspace decreases it. Strengthening religious values and managing time spent online can help improve the quality of married life. The findings demonstrate that both social media usage and adherence to religious beliefs are significantly related to marital satisfaction among married students of Payame Noor University in Gilan Province.

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