Marriage: A Study in Terms of System Legitimation Theory

The main purpose of this study is to test the mediating role of positive illusions on the relationship between marital system justification and marital satisfaction. For this purpose, the study sample consisted of 166 married couples. Participants com-pleted the informed consent form, demographic data form, Marital System Justification Scale, Positive Illusion Scale, Gen-eral System Justification Scale and Dyadic Adjustment Scale. We tested hypotheses by using Actor Partner Interdependence Model (APIM, Kenny, Kashy and Cook, 2006). As expected, for both men and women, individuals' positive illusions had a mediating role in the relationship of their own marital system justification and marital satisfaction. The results revealed that regarding both men and women, marital system justification predicts their own positive illusions. The results also re-vealed that for both men and women, individuals' positive illusions predict their own marital satisfaction. In addition, the wife's positive illusions mediated the relationship between her own marital system justification and her husband's marital satisfaction. As a result, we argued that the marital system has similar palliative functions just as it is in the general system justification.