Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 2017, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 106–128
UDC: 
159.942+177.61

Socio-demographic and psychological factors of marital satisfaction

Sychev O. A. 1 (Biysk, Russian Federation), Kazantseva O. A. 2 (Barnaul, Russian Federation)
1 Shukshin Altai State Humanities Pedagogical University, Biysk, Russian Federation
2 Altai State Pedagogical University, Barnaul, Russian Federation
Abstract: 

Introduction: The article presents the results of empirical study of association of marital satisfaction with certain socio-demographic and psychological factors.
Materials and Methods: Using the Relationship Satisfaction Scale (by S. Hendrick), the Index of tension in marital relationships (by A.I. Pishnyak) and original questionnaire we tested 487 married couples from different towns and rural areas of Altay region.
Results: The results of analysis showed that marital satisfaction is most strongly correlated with marital conflicts and indicators of socioeconomic status. Also negative influence on marital satisfaction showed too young age of men at the moment of marriage (younger than 20 years old) and unwanted child. The influence of wealth on women’s marital satisfaction was discovered only in those religious women who didn’t attend church regularly but this influence was absent in true believers. Also the influence of wealth on women’s marital satisfaction decreases with age and it is not significant at the age older than 36.5 years. Structural equation modeling of predictors of marital satisfaction demonstrated significant effects of both psychological features of spouses (aggressive style of behavior in conflicts, controllability of marital life) and socio-demographic factors (socioeconomic status, number of children) showing partially indirect effect.
Conclusions: Socio-demographic factors demonstrate both direct and indirect effects on marital satisfaction, but psychological factors (aggressive style of behavior and conflicts) have stronger influence on marital satisfaction.

Keywords: 

Marital satisfaction; marital conflicts; socio-demographic factors; psychological factors; socioeconomic status

https://www.scopus.com/record/display.uri?src=s&origin=cto&ctoId=CTODS_1...

Socio-demographic and psychological factors of marital satisfaction

For citation:
Sychev O. A., Kazantseva O. A. Socio-demographic and psychological factors of marital satisfaction. Novosibirsk State Pedagogical University Bulletin, 2017, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 106–128. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.15293/2226-3365.1701.08
References: 
  1. Amato P. R., Cheadle J. E. Parental divorce, marital conflict and children’s behavior problems: A comparison of adopted and biological children. Social Forces. 2008, vol. 86, no. 3, pp. 1139–1161. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sof.0.0025.
  2. Archuleta K. L., Britt S. L., Tonn T. J., Grable J. E. Financial satisfaction and financial stressors in marital satisfaction. Psychological Reports. 2011, vol. 108, no. 2, pp. 563–576. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2466/07.21.PR0.108.2.563-576
  3. Bloch L., Haase C. M., Levenson R. W. Emotion regulation predicts marital satisfaction: More than a wives’ tale. Emotion (Washington, DC). 2014, vol. 14, no. 1, pp. 130–144. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/a0034272
  4. Dollard J., Miller N. E., Doob L. W., Mowrer H. O., Sears R. R. Frustration and aggression. New Haven, CT, US, Yale University Press Publ., 1939, 213 p.
  5. Fard M. K., Shahabi R., Zardkhaneh S. A. Religiosity and Marital Satisfaction. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences. 2013, vol. 82, pp. 307–311. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2013.06.266
  6. Fergusson D. M., Horwood L. J., Shannon F. T. A Proportional Hazards Model of Family Breakdown. Journal of Marriage and Family. 1984, vol. 46, no. 3, pp. 539–549. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/352596
  7. Glenn N. D. The course of marital success and failure in five American 10-year marriage cohorts. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1998, vol. 60, pp. 569–576. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/353529
  8. Gottman J. M., Levenson R. W. Marital processes predictive of later dissolution: behavior, physiology, and health. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1992, vol. 63, no. 2, pp. 221–233. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.63.2.221
  9. Han C.K., Kim S.J. Assets and a wife’s marital satisfaction in Korea. Asia Pacific Journal of Social Work and Development. 2014, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 251–264. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02185385.2014.925817
  10. Hendrick S. S., Dicke A., Hendrick C. The relationship assessment scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 1998, vol. 15, no. 1, pp. 137–142. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0265407598151009
  11. Hirschberger G., Srivastava S., Marsh P., Cowan C. P., Cowan P. A. Attachment, marital satisfaction, and divorce during the first fifteen years of parenthood. Personal Relationships. 2009, vol. 16, no. 3, pp. 401–420. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1475-6811.2009.01230.x
  12. Olson J. R., Marshall J. P., Goddard H. W., Schramm D. G. Variations in Predictors of Marital Satisfaction Across More Religious and Less Religious Regions of the United States. Journal of Family Issues. 2016, vol. 37, no. 12, pp. 1658–1677. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0192513X14560643
  13. Rollins B. C., Cannon K. L. Marital satisfaction over the family life cycle: A reevaluation. Journal of Marriage and the Family. 1974, vol. 36, no. 2, pp. 271–282. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/351153
  14. Schaffhuser K., Allemand M., Martin M. Personality Traits and Relationship Satisfaction in Intimate Couples: Three Perspectives on Personality. European Journal of Personality. 2014, vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 120–133. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/per.1948
  15. Scheeren P., Vieira R. V. de A., Goulart V. R., Wagner A., Scheeren P., Vieira R. V. de A., Goulart V. R., Wagner A. Marital Quality and Attachment: The Mediator Role of Conflict Resolution Styles. Paidéia (Ribeirão Preto). 2014, vol. 24, no. 58, pp. 177–186. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/1982-43272458201405
  16. Tomczak M., Tomczak E. The need to report effect size estimates revisited. An overview of some recommended measures of effect size. Trends in Sport Sciences. 2014, vol. 21, no. 1, pp. 19–25.
  17. Unger D., Sonnentag S., Niessen C., Kuonath A. The longer your work hours, the worse your relationship? The role of selective optimization with compensation in the associations of working time with relationship satisfaction and self-disclosure in dual-career couples. Human Relations. 2015, vol. 68, no. 12, pp. 1889–1912. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0018726715571188
  18. Waite L. J., Lillard L. A. Children and marital disruption. American Journal of Sociology. 1991, vol. 96, pp. 930–953. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1086/229613
  19. Andreeva T. V. Psychology of modern family. Monograph. Saint Petersburg, Rech' Publ., 2005, 436 p. (In Russian)
  20. Pishnyak A. I. Conflicts in family: basis, concentration, determinants. Parents and Children, Men and Women in Family and Society. Eds.: S. V. Zakharov, T. M. Maleva, O. V. Sinyavskaya. Moscow, NISP Publ., 2009, pp. 185–204. (In Russian)
  21. Sopun S. M., Liders A. G. Psychological compatibility of spouses and marital satisfaction. Siberian  journal  of  psychology. 2007, no. 25, pp. 156–162. (In Russian)
  22. Sychev O. A. Russian version of relationship assessment scale. Psychology, Journal of the Higher School of Economics. 2016, vol. 13, no. 2, pp. 388–409. (In Russian)
  23. Sychev O. A. Marital attributions as a factor of relationship satisfaction among pairs with different duration of marriage. Siberian journal of psychology. 2016, no. 59, pp. 172–187. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.17223/17267080/59/11 (In Russian)
  24. Filatov S. B., Lunkin R. N. Statistics of religiosity in Russia: magic of figures and ambiguous reality. Sociological studies. 2005, no. 6, pp. 35–45. (In Russian)
Date of the publication 25.02.2017