TTLA: Satisfaction with married life in the first 5 years of couples in Hanoi

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

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

5. Decision on recognition of PhD student No.:3216/2014/QD-XHNV-SDH, December 31, 2014 by the President of the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, VNU

6. Changes in training process: No

7. Thesis topic name:Satisfaction with married life in the first 5 years of couples in Hanoi.

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

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

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Thi Thu Hoa

11. Summary of new results of the thesis:

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

Husbands were more satisfied with their lives than wives. People without children were more satisfied with their marriages than those with children. People who got married in their first year were more satisfied with their marriages than those who had been married for 1 to 5 years.

The study proposed three factors to examine the influence on the satisfaction with married life of couples, including: perception of the marital relationship, communication behavior with the spouse, and perception of marital harmony. All three factors above have a positive correlation with satisfaction with married life at a relatively strong level. The factor that has the greatest influence on satisfaction with married life is the perception of marital harmony with a strong correlation (r= 0.743) and is capable of predicting 62.1% of the variation in the level of satisfaction with married life of couples.

The thesis analyzes a number of typical couples, showing that couples living in the same marriage have different assessments, experiences and feelings about married life, even in cases where both spouses have the same level of satisfaction with their married life in general.

12. Practical application:

The thesis can be a reference document for developing intervention programs for couples including:

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

- Counseling for couples preparing to get married and couples in the early stages of married life.

13. Further research directions:

- Study the changes in marital satisfaction of couples over time.

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

14. Published works related to the thesis:

• Luu Thi Lich (2017), “Some factors affecting satisfaction with married life (through some studies in the world)”,Journal of Human Studies5(92), pp.57-70.
• Luu Thi Lich (2019), “Satisfaction with married life 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 International Conference on Vietnamese Children's Mental Health: Understanding Mental Health in Schools and Communities. Hanoi National University Publishing House. pp.236-245.

INFORMATION ON DOCTORAL THESIS

1. Full name:HISTORY2. 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 have 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.