Role of psychosocial factors in marital happiness

Abstract

The aim of the present study was to study Marital happiness in relation to psychosocial factors viz. Couple satisfaction, Total mental health and its dimensions, Happiness, Total commitment and its dimensions, Positive relationship quality, Negative relationship quality, Perceived social support and its dimensions, Positive affect Negative affect Dyadic trust, Interpersonal communication, Perceived stress, Work- family conflict and Character strengths. Another aim of the study was to identify gender differences in marital happiness and its correlates. The study also focused on effect of wives working status on marital happiness and its correlates. The results revealed that husbands scored higher than wives on Marital Happiness, Couple Satisfaction, Happiness, Dyadic Trust and Interpersonal Communication. Wives scored higher than husbands on Total Commitment and its dimensions, Home-maker wives scored higher than working wives on long-term orientation i.e. a dimension of Total Commitment, Negative Relationship Quality, Negative Affect and Perceived Stress. Marital Happiness was found to be positively related with Couple satisfaction, Total mental health and its dimensions, Oxford happiness scale, Total commitment, Positive relationship quality, Total perceived social support, Positive affect, Dyadic trust, Interpersonal communication and Character Strengths namely Love, Kindness, Humor, Gratitude, Curiosity and Creativity in both Wives and Husbands group. Marital happiness was found to be negatively related with Negative Relationship Quality, Negative affect and Perceived stress in both Wives and Husbands groups. However a negative relationship was found between Marital Happiness and Work-Family Conflict in Husbands group only. Regression Analysis further revealed that for Total Sample Dyadic Trust, Oxford Happiness Scale, Negative Relationship Quality and Couple Satisfaction were the significant predictors of Marital Happiness.