بررسی انگیزه های روانشناختی برای اقدام به شکایت علیه همسر

Background:

Marital conflict represents one of the most pervasive relational challenges affecting contemporary families, and in many cases, these conflicts escalate into formal legal complaints filed by spouses against one another. While extensive research has examined overt or externally observable causes of such complaints—including financial disputes, dowry-related claims, physical violence, and other tangible marital conflicts—far fewer studies have explored the psychological motivations that underpin the decision to take legal action against a spouse. In the Iranian context, in particular, a clear gap exists in understanding these internal motivational drivers. Although prior investigations have documented external factors such as economic pressure, familial interference, or legal incentives, the covert psychological dynamics that shape an individual’s decision to file a complaint remain insufficiently understood. The present study aims to bridge this critical gap by identifying and categorizing the underlying psychological motives that lead spouses in Yazd, Iran, to initiate legal complaints against their partners.

Methods:

This research employed a qualitative design using conventional content analysis. Participants were selected through purposive sampling from individuals who had initiated marital complaints in the judicial system of Yazd. Sampling continued until theoretical saturation was achieved, resulting in 25 in-depth semi-structured interviews lasting 50–90 minutes each. Interviews began with open-ended prompts such as: “What motivated you to file a complaint against your spouse?” and progressed through probing questions aimed at uncovering deeper psychological and relational motives. All interviews were handwritten, repeatedly reviewed, and systematically coded. Using constant comparative analysis, initial codes were grouped into clusters, then into categories and overarching themes. Credibility was strengthened through prolonged engagement with data, peer debriefing, and participant validation.

Results:

Data analysis yielded 34 concepts, eight categories, and two overarching themes: internal psychological factors and external social-contextual factors that motivate legal complaints.

1. Internal Motivational Factors:

This theme includes four categories:

o Power-seeking: Participants reported filing complaints to intimidate their spouse, assert dominance, or regain perceived lost authority in the marital system. Motivations included instilling fear, seeking revenge, controlling the partner, or proving one’s righteousness. Women disproportionately cited power-related motives; 67% of female participants reported at least one such theme, whereas none of the men did.

o Helplessness: Some participants described profound feelings of entrapment, emotional exhaustion, or limited personal agency. Filing a complaint was perceived as the only available means to halt ongoing conflict or aggression.

o Support-seeking: Several individuals expressed a longing for emotional or social protection, either due to lack of family support, experiences of victimization, or repeated psychological and physical abuse. For these participants, legal action served as a substitute for absent familial or communal support.

o Attention-seeking: Many participants viewed complaints as a way to elicit attention, address unmet emotional needs, respond to perceived neglect, or confront suspected infidelity. A central feature among these cases was poor communication skills and inability to negotiate emotional needs constructively.

2. External Motivational Factors:

Four categories emerged within this theme:

o Financial security: Complaints were frequently filed to claim dowry (mahr), alimony, or other property rights, or to protect family assets. Financial incentives—including high-value dowries—played a strong motivational role for several participants.

o Influence of others: Family members, friends, attorneys, and social networks heavily influenced decision-making. Some participants filed complaints not out of personal conviction but due to pressure or advice from relatives.

o Attempt to improve the relationship: Paradoxically, certain participants turned to legal action in hopes of reforming their spouse’s behavior, restoring marital harmony, or compelling their partner to return home.

o Desire for separation or divorce: A substantial portion of participants—especially women—used complaints to pursue divorce directly or indirectly, either due to emotional disengagement, interest in another partner, or chronic relational dissatisfaction.

Conclusion:

This study identifies a nuanced spectrum of psychological motivations behind marital complaints—motivations that are often hidden beneath the surface of overt legal claims. Importantly, most internal motives (power-seeking, helplessness, support-seeking, and attention-seeking) and several external motives (financial concerns, the influence of others, and attempts to improve the relationship) are amenable to psychological intervention. The findings therefore underscore an urgent need to integrate pre-complaint psychological assessment and counseling into the judicial and family service systems.

Interventions such as enhancing self-esteem, fostering forgiveness processes, promoting equitable power distribution within the family, and improving communication and problem-solving skills may significantly reduce the likelihood of complaint initiation and mitigate the emotional damage associated with legal conflict. The study emphasizes that many individuals who file complaints are not necessarily seeking divorce; rather, they are searching for mechanisms to regain control, seek emotional validation, or repair relational ruptures.

Participants also highlighted their regret regarding legal involvement and strongly recommended mutual agreement—whether toward reconciliation or peaceful separation—over prolonged legal disputes. This insight reinforces the necessity of educating couples about the psychological and relational consequences of legal action, as well as providing more accessible conflict-resolution resources. Overall, this study contributes a novel psychological perspective to the literature on marital conflict in Iran and provides practical implications for clinicians, counselors, and policymakers seeking to reduce the growing rates of spousal complaints. The results of this study showed that filing a complaint against a spouse is not simply a legal reaction to marital conflicts, but in many cases it is a response to psychological needs, feelings of power inequality, helplessness, or external pressures.