Global perspective on marital satisfaction

Małgorzata Dobrowolska*, Agata Groyecka-Bernard, Piotr Sorokowski, Ashley K. Randall, Peter Hilpert, Khodabakhsh Ahmadi, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Richmond Aryeetey, Anna Bertoni, Karim Bettache, Marta Błażejewska, Guy Bodenmann, Tiago S. Bortolini, Carla Bosc, Marina Butovskaya, Felipe N. Castro, Hakan Cetinkaya, Diana Cunha, Daniel David, Oana Alexandra DavidFahd A. Dileym, Alejandra C. Domínguez Espinosa, Silvia Donato, Daria Dronova, Seda Dural, Maryanne Fisher, Tomasz Frackowiak, Aslıhan Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, Takeshi Hamamura, Karolina Hansen, Wallisen Tadashi Hattori, Ivana Hromatko, Evrim Gulbetekin, Raffaella Iafrate, Bawo James, Feng Jiang, Charles O. Kimamo, Fırat Koç, Anna Krasnodębska, Fívia A. Lopes, Rocio Martinez, Norbert Meskó, Natalya Molodovskaya, Khadijeh Moradi Qezeli, Zahrasadat Motahari, Jean Carlos Natividade, Joseph Ntayi, Oluyinka Ojedokun, Mohd S.B. Omar-Fauzee, Ike E. Onyishi, Barış Özener, Anna Paluszak, Alda Portugal, Anu Realo, Ana Paula Relvas, Muhammad Rizwan, Agnieszka Sabiniewicz, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ivan Sarmány-Schuller, Eftychia Stamkou, Stanislava Stoyanova, Denisa Šukolová, Nina Sutresna, Meri Tadinac, Andero Teras, Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano, Ritu Tripathi, Nachiketa Tripathi, Mamta Tripathi, Maria E. Yamamoto, Gyesook Yoo, Agnieszka Sorokowska

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

20 Scopus citations

Abstract

Across the world, millions of couples get married each year. One of the strongest predictors of whether partners will remain in their relationship is their reported satisfaction. Marital satisfaction is commonly found to be a key predictor of both individual and relational well-being. Despite its importance in predicting relationship longevity, there are relatively few empirical research studies examining predictors of marital satisfaction outside of a Western context. To address this gap in the literature and complete the existing knowledge about global predictors of marital satisfaction, we used an open-access database of self-reported assessments of self-reported marital satisfaction with data from 7178 participants representing 33 different countries. The results showed that sex, age, religiosity, economic status, education, and cultural values were related, to various extents, to marital satisfaction across cultures. However, marriage duration, number of children, and gross domestic product (GDP) were not found to be predictors of marital satisfaction for countries represented in this sample. While 96% of the variance of marital satisfaction was attributed to individual factors, only 4% was associated with countries. Together, the results show that individual differences have a larger influence on marital satisfaction compared to the country of origin. Findings are discussed in terms of the advantages of conducting studies on large cross-cultural samples.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article number8817
Pages (from-to)1-15
Number of pages15
JournalSustainability (Switzerland)
Volume12
Issue number21
DOIs
StatePublished - Nov 1 2020

Keywords

  • Children
  • Collectivistic values
  • Economic status
  • Global perspective
  • Gross domestic product (GDP)
  • Marital satisfaction
  • Religion

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science (miscellaneous)
  • Geography, Planning and Development
  • Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
  • Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
  • Energy Engineering and Power Technology
  • Hardware and Architecture
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

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