ISSN (Print): 2328-3734, ISSN (Online): 2328-3696, ISSN (CD-ROM): 2328-3688 American International Journal of Research in Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences AIJRHASS 17-221; © 2017, AIJRHASS All Rights Reserved Page 70 Available online at http://www.iasir.net AIJRHASS is a refereed, indexed, peer-reviewed, multidisciplinary and open access journal published by International Association of Scientific Innovation and Research (IASIR), USA (An Association Unifying the Sciences, Engineering, and Applied Research) The Mediating Role of Romantic Jealousy in Relation to Attachment Styles and Marital Quality in Women Mitra Kabiri 1 , Hamid Taher Neshat-Doost 2 , Hossein Ali Mehrabi 3 1 M.A, Department of Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran 2 Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran 3 Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Isfahan, Isfahan, Iran I. Introduction Quality of life is a multidimensional concept affected by time, place, and individual and social values. One of the areas of life quality is marital quality. Although the researches which have done so far have found that marriage can result in mental and physical well-being [1], it is the "quality" of the marriage that leads to these benefits [2]. Recent research studies have identified several factors associated with marital quality, such as personality traits and attachment styles. The link between “better” or “worse” marriages has been a subject of much empirical interest over the last half-century. During this period, marriage went through considerable socio-demographic transformations, including a declining marriage rate, increasing age of first marriage and increasing divorce rates during these years [3], [4]. In spite of the changes in the demographics and meanings of marriage, the impact of marital quality on mental well-being has remained a topic of consistent interest among scholars, practitioners, and the public. Marital quality is defined as a global evaluation of the marriage along several dimensions [5], including positive and negative aspects of marriage (e.g., support and strain [6]), attitudes, and reports of behaviors and interaction patterns [7]. Thus, high marital quality is typically operationally defined by high self-reported satisfaction with the relationship, predominantly positive attitudes towards one’s partner, and low levels of hostile and negative behavior. Marital distress has both concurrent and longitudinal associations with psychological distress [8]. In addition, marital problems predict the onset of psychopathology [9]. There are many influential factors in marital quality, such as couples’ attachment styles . Researchers have identified three main “styles” of adult attachment which impact how individuals perceive and respond to intimacy: secure, anxious, and avoidant. Individuals with secure attachment are those who feel comfortable with intimacy and are usually warm and affectionate towards others. These individuals do not often worry about being abandoned by their partners [10], and they express more adaptive functioning in romantic relationships compared to individuals who are insecure [11]. By contrast, anxiously attached adults are described as worried about being rejected or abandoned by their romantic partners, and they crave intimacy and closeness [10]. Finally, avoidant adults express independence from their romantic partner by constant attempt to minimize closeness and intimacy. They are less invested in their relationships, and they consistently try to remain psychologically and emotionally independent of their partners [12]. One of the other factors directly affecting marital quality is romantic jealousy. A common thread among most definitions of jealousy is that it is an emotional response to the real or imagined threat of losing something of value from a romantic relationship which includes affective, cognitive and behavioral components [13]. Abstract: The aim of the present study was to examine the mediating role of romantic jealousy in relation to marital quality and attachment styles in women in Isfahan. In this descriptive-correlational study, statistical population included all married women in Isfahan between winter and spring 2015. A sample of 195 women was examined who were selected through convenience sampling. Golombok-Rust Inventory of Marital State, Adult Attachment Questionnaire, and Multiple Jealousy Scale were used as the research instruments. Pearson correlation coefficient and hierarchical regression analysis in SPSS 21 software were used in order to analyze the data. The results showed that the attachment styles were significantly correlated with marital quality and romantic jealousy (p<0.01). The results of hierarchical regression analysis showed that dimensions of romantic jealousy played the role of mediation variable in the association between attachment styles and marital quality (p<0.01). Therefore, based on the obtained results, the association between attachment styles and marital quality is not as simple as a linear correlation and could be affected by romantic jealousy. Keywords: marital quality, attachment style, romantic jealousy, women