attachment theory was first introduced by bowlby as a primary need ( 1 - 4 ) . according to this theory , babies express a combination of innate attachment behaviors like crying , laughing , sucking and grasping and the general reason for such behaviors is maintaining physical nearness with the main attachment side and results in baby s survival in possible environmental dangers ( 5 ) . following the bowlby theory , ainsworth , blehar , waters and wall as cited from olderbak ( 6 ) , invented strange situation methodology and described three styles of attachment as secure , avoidant and ambivalent . the key concept in attachment theory which describes relationship between baby and parents attachment relationships quality is internal working models ( iwm ) concept . from attachment theory point of view , children form their iwm through interaction with their caregivers and that is a kind of internalized cognitive representation of the meaning , function and value of social communications ( 7 , 8) . in other words , iwms are formed based on children s experiences on parents responses in the first few years after birth . these models provide rules for attachment behaviors including emotional and cognitive components and organization of beliefs concerning self - worth and acceptance or rejection of parents ( 9 ) . according to attachment theory , personality and friendly communications are affected directly by iwms which include romantic relationships and marriage . hazan and shaver ( 10 ) extended attachment theory to adults romantic relationships and romantic love and proved that the personal differences of adults attachment styles are similar to those of childhood attachment differences . on the other hands , current trends of marriage and divorce indicate the importance of emotional intelligence ( 11 ) . it is a construct in psychology which received attention in general and specialized areas ( 12 ) . from applied viewpoint , theorists believe that elements of emotional intelligence such as emotions perceive regulation of emotional states and application of emotional awareness are related to psychological adaptation , success and satisfaction with life ( 13 ) . marriage is naturally rich in emotion and excitement , and marital happiness is related to identification ability , understanding and true perception of oneself and others . in general , satisfaction with marital relationship is the outcome of a combination of positive and negative emotions which is experienced by couples in common . fitness ( 14 ) believes that emotional intelligence or at least some of its aspects can enrich a marriage with satisfaction and adaptation . he believes that ability to understand and accept other side emotions and thoughts in marital life can result in satisfaction . in fact , there is a clear relationship between abilities , which comprise emotional intelligence , and abilities , which are necessary for successful marital interactions and conversations . therefore , since the influence of adults attachment styles ( as ) on controlling social communications and satisfied and unsatisfied marital communications are the result of iwms , which is a cognitive concept , and considering the fact that emotional intelligence concept indicates the latest advancements in relationship between emotion and cognition ( 15 ) , the present research tried to investigate the relationship between attachment styles and emotional intelligence with marital satisfaction . considering the importance of marital satisfaction among married individuals , the present study aimed to determine the role of attachment styles and emotional intelligence in marital satisfaction . statistical population of the present research included all married people in mashhad , iran , who had married at least one year before research time in 2011 . according to the census conducted in 2006 , mashhad population was 2427316 which 1223838 ( 50.41% ) were male and 1203478 ( 49.59% ) were female ( 16 ) . first , six out of thirteen districts of mashhad were selected by random sampling method . then , streets , lanes and houses were selected randomly and questionnaires were distributed among families . respondents were provided with personal information questionnaire , simpson attachment styles questionnaire , emotional quotient inventory ( eq - i ) questionnaire and the enrich marital satisfaction ( ms ) questionnaire ; 530 questionnaires were returned and 450 questionnaires were completed and selected for analysis . the eq - i is the first valid super - cultural questionnaire used to measure emotional intelligence ( ei ) and was designed by bar - on in 1997 ( 18 ) . very high and very low points were rare and most respondents were close to 100 . a point over 100 shows that the respondent has a high level of ei and a point below 100 shows that emotional skills in the respondent should be improved . in bar - on test ( 18 , 19 ) , retest coefficients were 0.85 after one month and 0.75 after four months . further , internal consistency was measured by cronbach s alpha in seven samples of different populations . it ranged from 0.69 ( for social responsibility ) to 0.86 ( self - regard ) with an average of 0.76 . this questionnaire was normalized for iranian students ( 20 , 21 ) and the number of questions was reduced to 90 . cronbach s alpha coefficient was 0.74 in male students and 0.68 in female students and 0.93 for all respondents . studies which measured eq - i with other valid tools mentioned a high validity coefficient ( 22 ) . except for the first dimension which has 5 questions , other dimensions have 10 questions . this questionnaire is based on a 5-point likert scale ( answers from 1 to 5 ) . olson et al . , cited from sanayee , ( 23 ) reported the questionnaire reliability as 0.95 , calculated by cronbach s alpha coefficient . reliability of this questionnaire was calculated by cronbach s alpha coefficient in a group of 11 people (= 0.95 ) . further , its correlation with life satisfaction dimensions ranges from 0.32 to 0.41 which is a sign of construct validity . all sub - dimensions of the enrich questionnaire differentiate between satisfied and dissatisfied couples and it shows that the questionnaire has good criterion validity . this questionnaire was designed based on three famous phrases of hazan and shaver ( 10 ) and consists of 13 questions based on a likert scale and respondents should choose one option out of five to answer a question ( from completely agree to completely disagree ) . out of the 13 questions , five evaluate secure style and eight questions measure avoidant and ambivalent . reliability of this questionnaire , based on cronbach s alpha coefficient and test retest at one week to two years intervals , is estimated 70.0 ( 24 ) . reza zadeh ( 25 ) obtained reliability coefficient 0.68 by means of test retest method and using a sample of 25 couples with a time difference of six weeks . moreover , internal consistency coefficient of the questionnaire was 0.44 . simpson used rubin love scale and dependency scale -designed by berscheid and fei and self - disclosure scale ( 26 ) to investigate discriminant validity of the questionnaire . for example , correlation coefficient between rubin love scale and secure attachment style was 0.22 , for avoidant attachment style it was -0.22 and for ambivalent attachment style -0.12 . 17 . to analyze data , descriptive measure , pearson correlation method and multiple regression with enter method were used . concerning ethics , the aim of this study was briefly explained to participants , and they were assured about the confidentiality of their personal information ; they signed a consent form to participate in the study . statistical population of the present research included all married people in mashhad , iran , who had married at least one year before research time in 2011 . according to the census conducted in 2006 , mashhad population was 2427316 which 1223838 ( 50.41% ) were male and 1203478 ( 49.59% ) were female ( 16 ) . first , six out of thirteen districts of mashhad were selected by random sampling method . then , streets , lanes and houses were selected randomly and questionnaires were distributed among families . respondents were provided with personal information questionnaire , simpson attachment styles questionnaire , emotional quotient inventory ( eq - i ) questionnaire and the enrich marital satisfaction ( ms ) questionnaire ; 530 questionnaires were returned and 450 questionnaires were completed and selected for analysis . the eq - i is the first valid super - cultural questionnaire used to measure emotional intelligence ( ei ) and was designed by bar - on in 1997 ( 18 ) . very high and very low points were rare and most respondents were close to 100 . a point over 100 shows that the respondent has a high level of ei and a point below 100 shows that emotional skills in the respondent should be improved . in bar - on test ( 18 , 19 ) , retest coefficients were 0.85 after one month and 0.75 after four months . further , internal consistency was measured by cronbach s alpha in seven samples of different populations . it ranged from 0.69 ( for social responsibility ) to 0.86 ( self - regard ) with an average of 0.76 . this questionnaire was normalized for iranian students ( 20 , 21 ) and the number of questions was reduced to 90 . cronbach s alpha coefficient was 0.74 in male students and 0.68 in female students and 0.93 for all respondents . in the present research , studies which measured eq - i with other valid tools mentioned a high validity coefficient ( 22 ) . except for the first dimension which has 5 questions , other dimensions have 10 questions . this questionnaire is based on a 5-point likert scale ( answers from 1 to 5 ) . olson et al . , cited from sanayee , ( 23 ) reported the questionnaire reliability as 0.95 , calculated by cronbach s alpha coefficient . reliability of this questionnaire was calculated by cronbach s alpha coefficient in a group of 11 people (= 0.95 ) . further , its correlation with life satisfaction dimensions ranges from 0.32 to 0.41 which is a sign of construct validity . all sub - dimensions of the enrich questionnaire differentiate between satisfied and dissatisfied couples and it shows that the questionnaire has good criterion validity . this questionnaire was designed based on three famous phrases of hazan and shaver ( 10 ) and consists of 13 questions based on a likert scale and respondents should choose one option out of five to answer a question ( from completely agree to completely disagree ) . out of the 13 questions , five evaluate secure style and eight questions measure avoidant and ambivalent . reliability of this questionnaire , based on cronbach s alpha coefficient and test retest at one week to two years intervals , is estimated 70.0 ( 24 ) . reza zadeh ( 25 ) obtained reliability coefficient 0.68 by means of test retest method and using a sample of 25 couples with a time difference of six weeks . simpson used rubin love scale and dependency scale -designed by berscheid and fei and self - disclosure scale ( 26 ) to investigate discriminant validity of the questionnaire . for example , correlation coefficient between rubin love scale and secure attachment style was 0.22 , for avoidant attachment style it was -0.22 and for ambivalent attachment style -0.12 . the eq - i is the first valid super - cultural questionnaire used to measure emotional intelligence ( ei ) and was designed by bar - on in 1997 ( 18 ) . very high and very low points were rare and most respondents were close to 100 . a point over 100 shows that the respondent has a high level of ei and a point below 100 shows that emotional skills in the respondent should be improved . in bar - on test ( 18 , 19 ) , retest coefficients were 0.85 after one month and 0.75 after four months . further , internal consistency was measured by cronbach s alpha in seven samples of different populations . it ranged from 0.69 ( for social responsibility ) to 0.86 ( self - regard ) with an average of 0.76 . this questionnaire was normalized for iranian students ( 20 , 21 ) and the number of questions was reduced to 90 . cronbach s alpha coefficient was 0.74 in male students and 0.68 in female students and 0.93 for all respondents . in the present research , studies which measured eq - i with other valid tools mentioned a high validity coefficient ( 22 ) . the primary form of this questionnaire contained 115 questions and 12 dimensions . except for the first dimension which has 5 questions , other dimensions have 10 questions . this questionnaire is based on a 5-point likert scale ( answers from 1 to 5 ) . olson et al . , cited from sanayee , ( 23 ) reported the questionnaire reliability as 0.95 , calculated by cronbach s alpha coefficient . reliability of this questionnaire was calculated by cronbach s alpha coefficient in a group of 11 people (= 0.95 ) . further , its correlation with life satisfaction dimensions ranges from 0.32 to 0.41 which is a sign of construct validity . all sub - dimensions of the enrich questionnaire differentiate between satisfied and dissatisfied couples and it shows that the questionnaire has good criterion validity . this questionnaire was designed based on three famous phrases of hazan and shaver ( 10 ) and consists of 13 questions based on a likert scale and respondents should choose one option out of five to answer a question ( from completely agree to completely disagree ) . out of the 13 questions , five evaluate secure style and eight questions measure avoidant and ambivalent . reliability of this questionnaire , based on cronbach s alpha coefficient and test retest at one week to two years intervals , is estimated 70.0 ( 24 ) . reza zadeh ( 25 ) obtained reliability coefficient 0.68 by means of test retest method and using a sample of 25 couples with a time difference of six weeks . simpson used rubin love scale and dependency scale -designed by berscheid and fei and self - disclosure scale ( 26 ) to investigate discriminant validity of the questionnaire . for example , correlation coefficient between rubin love scale and secure attachment style was 0.22 , for avoidant attachment style it was -0.22 and for ambivalent attachment style -0.12 . 17 . to analyze data , descriptive measure , pearson correlation method and multiple regression with enter method were used . concerning ethics , the aim of this study was briefly explained to participants , and they were assured about the confidentiality of their personal information ; they signed a consent form to participate in the study . in the present research , 226 subjects ( 50.2% ) were male and 224 ( 49.8% ) female . in addition , other demographic characteristics of participants are shown in table 1 . the multiple regression analysis with enter method in addition , to investigate the relationship between the variables , pearson s correlation coefficient was used . table 2 shows that ms had positive and significant relationship with secure attachment style ( 0.609 ) and negative significant relationship with avoidant attachment and ambivalent styles ( -0.446 and -0.564 , respectively ) ( p < 0.001 ) . furthermore , ei and its dimensions had positive and significant correlation with ms in p < 0.001 level . , significance ; ns , not significant . according to the study results , the observed f ( f ( 9 , 440 ) = 66.079 ) was significant at p < 0.001 and more than 58% of ms variance regression coefficients of predicting variable showed that attachment styles and ei and intrapersonal , adaptability and general mood dimensions can explain ms variance significantly . in table 3 , regression coefficients of attachment styles ( secure = 0.331 , ambivalent = -0.377 and avoidant = -0.218 ) , ei ( 0.412 ) , intrapersonal dimensions ( 0.155 ) , adaptability ( 0.111 ) and general mood ( 0.154 ) showed that these variables can predict changes in ms variable . furthermore , the predicting role of interpersonal and stress management dimensions was not significant ( p > 0.05 ) . figure 1 showed that all predicting variables had significant influence on prediction of ms except for interpersonal and stress management dimensions . moreover , side results analysis revealed positive significant relationship between secure attachment style and ei ( r = 0.108 , p < 0.05 ) and negative significant relationship between avoidant and ambivalent attachment styles and ei ( -0.242 and -0.230 , respectively ) ( p < 0.05 ) . furthermore , ms had positive significant relationship with secure attachment style and significant negative relationship with avoidant and ambivalent styles . these results match with the results of studies conducted by other researchers ( 10 , 27 - 39 ) . moreover , regression coefficients of the independent variable showed that general ei and intrapersonal , adaption and general mood can predict ms variance significantly . furthermore , pearson correlation coefficients showed that ei and all its dimensions had positive significant correlation with ms . these results match with those of the studies by najm ( 40 ) , fizser ( 41 ) , schutt et al . ( 42 ) , mehrabian ( 43 ) , vadnais and michelle ( 44 ) , croyle and waltz ( 45 ) , waldinger ( 46 ) , thomas and fletcher ( 47 ) , geist and gilbert ( 48 ) , wenzel and graff ( 49 ) , and tirgari ( 50 ) . there may be several reasons for such results : self - confidence and trust in others are two attributes of secure individuals ( 51 - 53 ) . self - confidence helps secure individuals with establishing close relationship with others and behaving more tactfully . it is clear that when an individual defines himself / herself and other people positively , he / she is attracted and accepted by people . therefore , this positive attitude towards oneself and others increases ms . in other words , this attribute provides necessities for a healthy social and psychological communication . in their marital life , such individuals can satisfy their spouse by means of establishment of a healthy communication . lack of self - confidence and trust in others are two major attributes of insecure individuals ( avoidant and ambivalent ) ( 54 , 55 ) . it can be said that lack of self - confidence and trust in others reduces individuals ability to interact and associate with others and especially with spouse . avoiding interpersonal relationships and failure to become friendly with others results in anxiety and inferiority complex in social communications , which increases interpersonal and marital problems and causes negative self - conception . that is to say , it has negative influence on marital life . another reason may be the fact that an avoidant individual evades establishing relationship with others and avoids a relationship as soon as he / she understands the relationship is becoming closer . ambivalent individuals tend to associate with other people but they fear from becoming excluded . in addition , ambivalent people desire to be integrated with others but they are afraid of rejection ; therefore , they represent interpersonal positions in a more pessimistic way and in comparison with others , consider themselves as less capable of receiving rewards . they avoid other people and are not satisfied with their marital life ( 56 ) . salovey and mayer , cited from mayer ( 15 ) , believe that ei is made up of four basic components : a ) perception , evaluation and expression of emotion ; b ) emotional facilitation of thinking ; c ) understanding and analysis of emotions , and application of emotional awareness ; and d ) responsive regulation of emotion to improve emotional and intellectual growth . according to this definition , basic factors involved in ei include perception of emotion in oneself and others and understanding these excitements and management of emotion . schutt and mallouff ( 57 ) showed that individuals with low level of emotional quotient ( eq ) have the following characteristics : lack of self - awareness , lack of understanding of constructive feedbacks , lack of sensitivity to others feelings and such individuals use others to satisfy their emotional needs . such individuals feel they are judged by others , they feel they are not appreciated by other people , and they feel they are abused by others . individuals who have a high intelligence quotient ( iq ) , but have a low eq have many problems in their lives . such individuals feel they are superior to others and think they are aware of everything while such individuals usually have low recognition of their emotions and feelings . they always feel they are right because they are intelligent ( 57 , 58 ) . individuals who have a high level of eq usually enjoy satisfying individual communications and individuals with a high level of eq express their feelings politely and non - aggressively . goleman ( 11 ) believes that ei has an important role in the establishment and stabilization of communications . saarni ( 59 ) supports goleman s belief and shows that emotional competency is an important factor in social development and improving the quality of interpersonal communications . therefore , individuals with high levels of ei are expected to establish social communications and have better communications with other people , one of which is marital relationship ( 60 , 61 ) . the limitation of the present study was that the researchers in cooperation and partnership faced difficulties in the response to the marital satisfaction questionnaire that a number of the questions have sexual nature considering the fact that the results of this research verified the important role of attachment styles in ms , it is recommended to provide consultancy for couples before marriage to reduce high risk marriages and prevent insecure individuals marriage ; insecure individuals should be identified and treated by psychologists to have happier marriages , prevent incompatibilities and thereby eliminate many family problems . since attachment styles are formed in childhood , parent - child communications should not be ignored because they affect adulthood communications . therefore , parents should receive psychological advice during their children s development to become more aware of their children s behavior . since the present research showed that intrapersonal , adaption and general mood dimensions can predict ms significantly , couple - therapy plans and education of ei skills can focus on these variables , although other dimensions also have significant correlation with ms . 1 . considering the fact that the results of this research verified the important role of attachment styles in ms , it is recommended to provide consultancy for couples before marriage to reduce high risk marriages and prevent insecure individuals marriage ; insecure individuals should be identified and treated by psychologists to have happier marriages , prevent incompatibilities and thereby eliminate many family problems . since attachment styles are formed in childhood , parent - child communications should not be ignored because they affect adulthood communications . therefore , parents should receive psychological advice during their children s development to become more aware of their children s behavior . since the present research showed that intrapersonal , adaption and general mood dimensions can predict ms significantly , couple - therapy plans and education of ei skills can focus on these variables , although other dimensions also have significant correlation with ms .