Abstract

Background & Objectives: When couples express their vulnerabilities in the marital relationship with a sense of calm and security and are accepted by their spouses, they will feel more satisfied and confident in their relationships. Therefore, the present study investigated the lived experience of vulnerability in the marital relationship. Vulnerability means uncertainty, danger, and emotional exposure. Vulnerability forms the core, heart, and center of meaningful human experiences. When a sense of vulnerability overwhelms us, we feel exposed.

Methods: The method of this research was qualitative and descriptive phenomenology. Phenomenological research seeks to understand the structure and nature of people's experiences with a phenomenon. The core of phenomenological research is the belief that there is a basic structure or common nature behind the various descriptions of reality presented by people who have experienced that phenomenon. This common nature can be discovered and connected to the entire research process. The statistical population of this research was all married women who experienced vulnerability in their marital relationship and were referred to the counseling centers of Khorram Abad City, Iran, during the years 2020–2021. The statistical sample consisted of 20 married women selected by purposive sampling and participated in research interviews. The interviews were analyzed using the four–step Giorgi method to clearly describe the subjects' lived experiences in relation to the phenomenon of vulnerability. These steps include 1) studying the general description to get a general sense of the interview text, 2) discovering and marking semantic units away from the interference of the researcher's assumptions, 3) transferring semantic units to psychological expressions and changing pronouns to the third person using the change method based on imagination, and 4) compiling the discovered semantic units in the form of a single structure and whole.

Results: Research consists of eight constituent components: listening to the spouse and being a good listener, accepting the subject, the spouse being confidential and confident that the problem will not be revealed, feeling safe and protected, not being judged or blamed by the husband, giving importance and position to the concern and knowing the issue by the husband, personality and behavioral characteristics of the spouse (such as being calm and kind, loving and considerate, being patient, understanding, giving the right, rational and prudent behavior, not reacting with violent and aggressive behaviors), empathy, and husband's efforts and actions to calm the wife. These eight constituent components show the final structure of vulnerability meaning that when couples express their vulnerabilities in their marital relationship and are accepted by their spouses in their relationships. They feel this space and these states.

Conclusion: According to the participants of this research, vulnerability means the ability to express the dark, shameful, and hidden aspects of their personality and life. Also, they believed that the honest expression of their shortcomings, weaknesses, and concerns with their spouses made them feel more intimate and close. Therefore, expressing vulnerabilities in the relationship and their acceptance by the couple can improve the quality of the marital relationship. This concept should be taught to couples in pre–marital and post–marriage counseling and marital relationship enrichment programs.