TTLA: Marital satisfaction in the first 5 years of marriage for couples in Hanoi.

1. Full name of the doctoral candidate:LUU THI LICH2. Gender: Female

3. Date of birth: September 10, 1981 4. Place of birth: Phu Tho

5. Decision number for admitting doctoral students:3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH, December 31, 2014, by the Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Vietnam National University, Hanoi

6. Changes in the training process: None

7. Thesis title:Marital satisfaction among couples in Hanoi during the first five years of their marriage.

8. Major:Psychology9. Code:62 31 04 01

10. Scientific supervisor:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thu Huong

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Thu Hoa

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis:

The study results showed that more than half of the couples participating in this study were moderately satisfied with their married life (52%). Up to 39% of couples had a moderately high level of marital satisfaction, and 13% had a high level of marital satisfaction. Only 18% of couples had lower levels of marital satisfaction, at a moderately low level (14%) and a low level (4%).

The husband is more satisfied with his life than the wife. Those without children are more satisfied with their marriage than those with children. Those married in the first year are more satisfied with their marriage than those married for more than one to five years.

The study identified three factors influencing marital satisfaction among couples: perceptions of the marital relationship, communication behavior with one's partner, and perceptions of marital harmony. All three factors showed a relatively strong positive correlation with marital satisfaction. The factor with the greatest influence on marital satisfaction was the perception of marital harmony, with a strong correlation (r = 0.743) and the ability to predict 62.1% of the variation in marital satisfaction among couples.

This thesis analyzes several typical married couples, showing that couples living in the same marriage have different assessments, experiences, and feelings about married life, even when both spouses generally have the same level of marital satisfaction.

12. Practical applications:

This thesis can serve as a reference for developing intervention programs for couples, including:

- Marriage classes: Pre-marital classes for couples preparing to get married, classes on skills for a happy life together for couples in the early stages of married life.

- Providing counseling for couples preparing for marriage and couples in the early stages of married life.

13. Future research directions:

- Researching changes in marital satisfaction among couples over time.

- Research on marital satisfaction among couples at later stages, such as 5 to 10 years and 15 years.

14. Published works related to the dissertation:

• Luu Thi Lich (2017), “Some factors affecting satisfaction with married life (through some studies around the world)”,Journal of Human Studies5(92), pp.57-70.
• Luu Thi Lich (2019), “Marital satisfaction of couples in the first 5 years and some influencing factors”,Journal of Human Studies1(100), pp.65-77.
• Pham Thi Thu Hoa, Luu Thi Lich (2019). “Adapting the PERMA profiler happiness scale to measure marital happiness of couples”.Proceedings of the 5th Vietnam International Conference on Child Mental Health: Understanding Mental Health in Schools and Communities. National University of Hanoi Publishing House. pp. 236-245.

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name:LUU THI LICH2. Sex: Female

3. Date of birth: September 10, 1981 4. Place of birth: Phu Tho

5. Admission decision number:3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SDHDated: December 31, 2014 by Rector of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU

6. Changes in academic process: No

7. Official thesis title:Marital satisfactionin the first 5 years of marriagecouplesin Hanoi.

8. Major: Psychology 9. Code: 62 31 04 01

10. Supervisors:Assoc. Prof. Dr. Tran Thu Huong and Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Thu Hoa

11. Summary of the new findings of the thesis

The study results show that more than half of couples participated in this research had average high satisfaction level with their married life, from 52 per cent and above. There were 39 per cent of couples indicating their marriage life at average high level and 13 per cent of couples at high level. Only 18 per cent of studied indicates their marriage satisfaction at average low level and 17.7 per cent of couples at low level.

The husbands held to be more satisfied with their marriage than the wives. Those who live in the city's inlying areas were happier with their married life than those who live in the suburbs. Those who have not had children were more satisfied with married life than couples with children. Couples who were in the first year of their marriage were happier than those who had been married for 1 to 5 years.

The research evaluated 3 factors that directly affect the satisfaction level in married life of the couples, including: Perception of marital harmony; Communication behaviors with the partner; Feelings about (the) marital relationship. All 3 factors above had a positive correlation with their satisfaction with married life in a relatively tight level. The factor that most affects the satisfaction of couples with their married life was Perception of marital harmony with a high degree of correlation (r = 0.743) and the ability to predict 62.1% of the marital satisfaction level.

The thesis analyzed some typical couples, showing that the two people in the same marriage had different evaluations, experiences and feelings about their married life, even in the case that they both had the same satisfaction level with their married life.

12. Practical applicability, if any:

The thesis could be a reference material for the development of intervention programs for couples including:

- Marriage class: Pre-marriage class for couples before getting married, the class on skills to live happily for newlywed marriage couples.

- Marriage counseling program for couples before getting married and newlywed marriage couples.

13. Further research directions, if any:

- Research on patterns of change in marital satisfaction over the time of Vietnamese couples.

- Research on marital satisfaction in later stage of marital life, such as the period from 5 to 10 or 15 years cohabitation.

14. Thesis-related publications:

• Luu Thi Lich (2017), “The factors that effect on the satisfaction of marriage life (through some researches in the world)”,Human studies5(92), pp.57-70.
• Luu Thi Lich (2019), “Marital satisfaction in the first 5 years of marriage couples and some effective factors”,Human studies1(100), pp.65-77.
• Pham Thi Thu Hoa, Luu Thi Lich (2019). “Adaptation of the PERMA profiler scales to measure marital happiness of couples”,Proceeding ofthe 5th International Conference on Child Mental Health in Vietnam: Mental Health Literacy in the Schools and the Community.Vietnam national university press, Hanoi,pp.236-245.