Magazine 2014
International Peer-Reviewed Journal
RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 4 JULY 2014
PSYCHOLOGY
U-SHAPED CURVE OF MARITAL SATISFACTION: AN INDIAN SCENARIO
Stephen C
S. John Michael Raj
ABSTRACT
Marriage continues to be a desirable lifestyle for most people and the institution of marriage has historically
been seen as a life-long commitment between two partners. The available results reveal that people
tend to be both healthier and happier when they are married. As a consequence, marital satisfaction has
been frequently studied. Marital satisfaction plays a vital role in the married individual to discern whether
to stay in marriage or not. Studies demonstrate a rise in marital satisfaction in the later years of life. The
U-shaped relationship starts off with an initial period of extreme marital satisfaction in an early “honeymoon
phase” of marriage followed by a steady decrease throughout the child-rearing years, then, marital
satisfaction once again rises in later marital life. In contrast studies have also found no significant,
consistent changes in marital satisfaction across different stages of married life.
This article intends to study the level of marital satisfaction across different stages of married life among
the Indian population. Becvar & Becvar’s (1993) four stages of marital relationship such as the Honeymoon
period (0-2 year), the Early marriage period (2-10 years), the Middle marriage period (10-25 years) and
the Long-term marriage (25+ years) was followed in this study. A survey was conducted among 144
married male and females using the Marital Quality Scale by Anisha Shah (1995) which is standardized
on the Indian population. Statistical analysis of the data shows differences in the levels of marital
satisfaction across different stages of marriage. However the difference is not statistically significant.
Keywords : Marital Satisfaction, Honeymoon period, Early marriage period, Middle marriage period
and Long-term marriage,
U-Shaped Curve of Marital Satisfaction: An Indian Scenario
Introduction
Marriage continues to be a desirable lifestyle for most people (Haseley, 2006). Research in the field is
recently gaining momentum. The available results reveal that people tend to be both healthier and
happier when they are married (e.g., Gottman, 1994; Orbuch & Custer, 1995; White, 1994 cited in
Myers et al., 2004). Further, the most frequently studied aspect in research on marriage and family
relationships is that of satisfaction, or what helps people maintain happiness in their marriages (Heyman,
Sayers, & Bellack, 1994; Larson et al., 1995; Spanier, 1976 cited in Myers et al., 2004). In this study, the
term “marital satisfaction” will refer to an individual’s subjective evaluation of the marital relationship
(
Taylor, Peplau & Sears, 1997:272). “Satisfaction” may be used interchangeably with happiness, quality,
and lack of distress, (Mathews, 2002).
Marital satisfaction seems to revolve around ten specific psychological characteristics. They are the
following: communication, couple closeness, couple flexibility, personality issues, conflict resolution,
the sexual relationship, leisure activities, family and friends, financial management and spiritual beliefs.
All these ten emanate from the couples’ relationship areas such as personality, leisure activities, conflict,
communication, and parenting (Olson, Olson-Sigg, and Larson, 2008).
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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 4 JULY 2014
Stages of Marital Relationship
Becvar & Becvar (1993) have defined a somewhat arbitrary four stages of the marital relationship such
as the Honeymoon period (0-2 year), the Early marriage period (2-10 years), the Middle marriage
period (10-25 years) and the Long-term marriage (25+ years). There are emotional issues and critical
tasks pertaining to each stage. The following table summarizes the same.
Table 1:
The Emotional Issues and Critical tasks in Different stages of Marital Relationship.
Stage
Emotional Issues Stage-Critical tasks
1.
Honeymoon
Commitment to the a. Differentiation from family of origin
period (0-2) Marriage
year
b. Making room for spouse with
family and friends
c. Adjusting career demands
a. Keeping romance in the marriage
2.
Early
Maturing of
relationship
marriage
period (2-10
years)
b. Balancing
togetherness
separateness
and
c. Renewing marriage commitment
3.
Middle
Post-career planning a. Adjusting to mid-life changes
b. Renegotiating relationship
marriage
period (10-25
years)
c. Renewing marriage commitment
4.
Long-term
marriage
Review and farewells a. Maintaining couple functioning
b. Closing or adapting family home
(25+ years)
c. Coping with death of spouse.
Source: Becvar & Becvar (1993, p.130)
Marital SatisfAction Across Different Stages of Marriage
Marital satisfaction seems to be a complex process that has, over time been thought to be influenced
by many factors that include education, socio-economic status, love, commitment, marital
communication, conflict, gender, length of marriage, the presence of children, sexual relations, and
the division of labour (Hendrick & Hendrick, 1992:194). The effect of the duration of marriage on
marital satisfaction has been unconfirmed, but some research suggests that marital satisfaction declines
over the first 10 to 20 years of marriage and then increases again in late adulthood and retirement
(
Steinmetz, Clavan & Stein, 1990:201). The U-shaped relationship starts off with an initial period of
extreme marital satisfaction in early “honeymoon phase” of marriage followed by a steady decrease
throughout the child-rearing years (Feldman, 1964), which rises slowly again in later life. Although a
significant rise, the later-life increase is not found to reach the same heights found in the early stages
of marriage (Anderson, Russell & Schumm, 1983; Troll, Miller & Atchley, 1979).
A cross- sectional study by Herman (1994) found that there were apparently no changes from adulthood
through the various sub-stages of later life with regards to marital satisfaction. Other studies have
found no significant or consistent changes in marital satisfaction in later life (Burr, 1970; Rollins &
Feldman, 1970).
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A study by Yarrow, Blank, Quinn, Youmans and Stein (1971, cited in Herman, 1994) states that
approximately one-third of married elderly couples will experience a significant decrease in marital
satisfaction and the remaining two-thirds were found to be happy and happier than younger couples.
Illness is perhaps the single most important factor affecting the marital satisfaction of the elderly. However,
elderly couples adapt to the changes imposed by physical impairments, significantly attenuating any
negative effects on marital satisfaction (Herman, 1994). Herman’s (1994) study has shown that there is
no significant differences in marital satisfaction among groups of increasing age and there is no evidence
supporting a decrease in marital satisfaction in the later cohorts. The illness of a spouse does not have
a negative impact on marital satisfaction. Marital satisfaction can be just as likely in the elderly as it is
in the middle-aged and younger.
There are gender differences in marital satisfaction in later life. Studies indicate that elderly husbands
are much more satisfied with their marriages than are their wives (Bernard, 1973; Gilford, 1984; Lurie,
1
974; Herman, 1994). Some studies have suggested that the presence of young children at home
negatively affects marital satisfaction in many ways, but one of the explanations for this is that couples
have less time to spend together (Lavee & Shartin, 1996:115). Stevens, Kiger and Riley (2001 :521)
believe that satisfaction with the division of household labour, is a useful predictor of marital satisfaction,
particularly for women.
The curiosity of the researchers to search for information regarding marital satisfaction among Indian
population across different stages of marriage motivated this study.
Objective
To find out the level of marital satisfaction across different stages of marriage among Indian married
individuals.
Hypothesis
Based on the objective of the study the following hypothesis were set.
H1: There will be Significant difference in the level of marital satisfaction acrossdifferent
stagesof marriage among the subjects.
H2: There will be no difference in the level of marital satisfaction across difference stages of
marriage among subjects with regards to gender.
Methods
Participants
In this present study the researchers have intended to study the level of marital satisfaction across
different stages of marriage among Indian married individuals. For this purpose a convenient sample
of 144 married individuals (Male:44, 30% and Female: 100, 69.4%) from southern part of Tamil Nadu in
India have been utilized. The sample is found with mean age of 41.12 (SD:13.41, range = 22-76)
married for a range of 0.03 to 43 years .
Measurement
Marital Quality Scale (MQS) (Anisha Shah, 1995) was used to collect data. MQS is a 50-item, 12-factor,
self-report scale developed to assess quality of marital-life and standardized on normal population in
India. The scale has high internal consistency (coefficient alpha =0.91) and high test-retest reliability
(
r=0.83 over a 6 weeks interval). It has well established content and construct validity. The range for
the total score is 50-200. As per the scoring of this scale higher the score indicates lower marital
satisfaction and vice-versa.
Result
Table 1
The test of homogeneity of variance for sample of married individuals.
Variable
Levene Statistic
1.810
df1
3
df2
Sig.
.148
Marital Satisfaction
140
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Table 2
Descriptive statistics of scores of the subjects on marital satisfaction across different stages of marriage
on Marital Quality Scale (MQS)
Stages of Marriage
N
Mean
76.33
75.75
84.50
80.53
79.28
Std. Deviation
15.15
Honeymoon (0-2 years)
Early Marriage (3-10 years)
Middle marriage (11-25 years)
Long-term marriage (>26 years)
Total
36
36
36
36
144
20.64
23.47
19.34
19.98
Table 3
The summary of one-way ANOVA on marital satisfaction across different stages of marriage.
Source of Variance Sum of Squares
df
Mean Square
599.39
F
Sig.
Between Groups
Within Groups
Total
1798.18
55310.72
57108.89
3
1.52
.213
140
143
395.08
A one way ANOVA shows that the mean score of marital satisfaction across different stages of marriage
was not significant F(3,140)=1.52, P>0.05. With the level of increase on the duration of marital life their
level of marital satisfaction remains almost constant. According to Becvar and Becvar theory there are
four stages of marital life and when the comparison of the stages on the levels of the marital satisfaction
of married individuals it has shown similarity in marital satisfaction. Thus the first hypothesis that there
will be significant difference in the level of marital satisfaction across different stages of marriage
among the subjects is not supported. At the same time, the mean difference among different stages
found to differ systematically.
Graph 1
Marital Satisfaction of the subjects at different stages of marriage
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RESEARCH HORIZONS, VOL. 4 JULY 2014
This graph shows the marital satisfaction of individuals in the honeymoon stage is very high compared
to upcoming stages. The level of marital satisfaction is increasing in the early marriage period that is
up to ten years of marriage, which is decreasing as the marriage duration increases. The middle
marriage, however, is very critical as far as marital satisfaction is concerned that the level of marital
satisfaction steadily decreases. Moreover there is an improvement in the level of marital satisfaction in
the long term marriages.
Table 4
Descriptive statistics of scores of the subjects on marital satisfaction for gender on Marital Quality
Scale (MQS)
Variable
Marital
Gender
Male
N
Mean
75.82
Std. Deviation
17.58
44
Satisfaction
Female
100
80.80
20.86
Table 5
The summary of one-way ANOVA on marital satisfaction for male and female subjects
Source of Variance
Between Groups
Within Groups
Sum of Squares
758.34
Mean Square
758.34
df
F
Sig.
.169
1
1.911
56350.55
396.84
142
Table 6
Mean Table: Duration of Marriage X Gender
Duration of Marriage
Gender
Mean
Std. Error
Honeymoon (0-2 years)
male
87.50
75.68
13.847
3.358
female
Early Marriage (3-10 years)
male
75.25
76.00
5.653
3.997
female
Middle marriage (11-25 years)
Long-term marriage (>26 years)
male
73.00
90.25
5.653
3.997
female
male
76.78
84.29
4.616
4.616
female
Table 7
Summary of ANOVA: Duration of Marriage X Gender
Source
Type III Sum of Squares Mean Square
df
F
Sig.
ns
Duration of Marriage
Gender
695.88
231.96
210.04
608.17
383.49
3
.605
.613
.461
.196
ns
210.04
1
.548
ns
DM * gender
Error
1824.49
52155.41
3
1.586
136
ns
Note: Not Significant.
Though there is no significant difference in marital satisfaction in terms of male and female married
individuals males are found to be more satisfied than females (male75.82, SD :17.58; female 80.80
SD:20.86). Further closer look into research findings shows no significant difference between male
and female in the level of marital satisfaction across different stages of marriage. Thus the null hypothesis
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that there will be no difference in the level of marital satisfaction across difference stages of
marriage among subjects with regards to gender is accepted. However, it is interesting to note that
men are having more marital satisfaction than women from the early marriage period onwards.
Discussion
Though the difference was not statistically significant, the present study has found that the U-shaped
relationship starts off with an initial period of extreme marital satisfaction in the early “honeymoon
phase” of marriage (0 to 2 years) and continues to slightly increase throughout early marriage period
that is up to ten years. This is in line with the earlier research findings (Feldman, 1964). However, the
study brought out a slight change from the earlier pattern of findings as the marital satisfaction continues
to grow through early marriage whereas the earlier studies (Feldman, 1964) have found that the level
on marital satisfaction decreases after honeymoon period though the difference is very meager. The
present study is also in line with earlier studies that suggests that marital satisfaction declines over the
first 10 to 20 years of marriage and then increases again in late adulthood and retirement (Steinmetz,
Clavan &Stein, 1990:201). Further The findings of this study shows a precipitous decline in the level of
marital satisfaction particularly in the middle marriage and a rise in the long term marriage (>26
years). This finding reaffirms the finding of earlier studies (Steinmetz, Clavan &Stein, 1990:201).
However the increase in the level of marital satisfaction is not as high as that of the early stage
(
honeymoon phase). This is again in line with the earlier findings (Anderson, Russell & Schumm,
983; Troll, Miller & Atchley, 1979).
1
Though the marital satisfaction changes across different stages of marriage, the present study has
found that the difference is not significant. This can be attributed to the rich Indian culture that inculcates
the minds of the young people to prepare themselves for the marriages before they enter into such
stable and rather permanent institution. Another interesting finding is that though there are cultural
differences the study result seems to be almost similar in terms of marital satisfaction. This tells about
the common characteristics of the most valuable bond of marriage irrespective of country and culture.
This helps people to connect very easily.
A study by Herman (1994) stated that marital dissatisfaction is not any more frequent in later life than
it is at any other age or stage of the family life cycle. This seems to be true from the findings of the
present study that the marital satisfaction improves in the long-term marriage. A study by Reedy (1989,
cited in Herman, 1994) found sexual relations to be of little concern in the elderly. However, Herman
(
1994) found that there is an increasing awareness that enjoyment from sexual relations can exist well
into later life. Some studies have found that older individuals reported greater marital satisfaction than
younger individuals (Carstensen et al., 1995; Kulik, 1999, as cited in Barnes, 2005); it can be inferred
that marriage in general improves over time.
Further, the present study shows higher marital satisfaction for women only in the honeymoon period
in comparison with that of men. Thereafter, the level of marital satisfaction always remains lower for
women when compared to men. This is supported by Belsky, Lang and Rovine (1985), who found that
marital satisfaction declines after the first child, especially for wives (Wilkie, Ferree & Ratcliff, 1998:582).
One common explanation is that the presence of children, particularly young children is associated
with an increased housework load for women (Wilkie, Ferree & Ratcliff, 1998:582). Studies have shown
time and again that adults with children living in the home report more worries and distress, higher
levels of anxiety and depression, and less happiness and satisfaction than non parents (Lavee &Sharlin,
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1
996:115). In research that has compared marital quality between couples with and without children at
home, with few exceptions, these studies have shown that the presence of children in the family lowers
the level of marital satisfaction (Lavee & Sharlin, 1996:115). Looking into gender differences in marital
satisfaction in later life, studies indicate that elderly husbands are much more satisfied with their
marriages than are their wives (Bernard, 1973; Gilford, 1984; Lurie, 1974; Herman, 1994). The present
study reaffirms this findings.
Conclusion
Considering not only the satisfaction of the individuals in marriage but also the other important concerns
like child rearing, maintaining family values, and community living, remaining married seems to have
more meaning. Intervention techniques such as marital therapy might be expected to help couples to
remain married and to maintain satisfaction in marriage. Studies have proved that most couples report
improvement in marital satisfaction immediately following marital therapies. All therapies are about
equally effective in this regard, regardless of the “school” of therapy (Gottman, 1998). This study
would help those in the counseling profession to understand the undercurrent of marriage. The incidence
of marital satisfaction in any marriage, though, decreases at some stage of marriage due to the
challenges of that phase of marriage, will improve over time. Those in the counseling profession need
to acknowledge this fact before the couple make haste to make any decision to break the bond.
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Mr. Stephen C : Research Scholar, Dept. of Psychology, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore.
Prof. S. John Michael Raj : Dean & Prof. of Psychology, Bharathiyar University, Coimbatore.
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