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

Author name: Luu Thi Lich

Thesis title:Satisfaction with married life in the first 5 years of marriage among couples in Hanoi.

Dissertation field: Psychology

Major: Psychology Code: 62 31 04 01

Name of the postgraduate training unit: University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Vietnam National University, Hanoi.

1. Purpose and research objects of the thesis

Research purpose of the thesis: Theoretical research and practical survey on satisfaction with married life of couples in the first 5 years of living together in Hanoi; thereby, proposing psychological and social measures to help couples increase satisfaction with married life.

Research object of the thesis:The thesis studies the level of satisfaction with married life and some factors affecting the satisfaction with married life of couples in the first 5 years of living together in Hanoi.

2. Research methods used

The thesis uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods including: Document research method, questionnaire survey, in-depth interview, case study, data processing by mathematical statistics. The research sample is 209 couples living together in the first 5 years in Hanoi.

3. Main results and conclusions

3.1. Main results

The data showed that the majority of couples participating in this study (78.5%) had a high level of satisfaction with their married life. Only about 6.5% of couples participating in this study were dissatisfied with their married life.

Husbands are more satisfied with their lives than wives. People living in urban areas are more satisfied with their marriages than those living in urban areas. People who have graduated from college/university or higher are more satisfied with their marriages than those who have graduated from high school or lower. People without children are more satisfied with their marriages than those with children. People who have been married for the first year are more satisfied than those who have been married for 1 to 5 years.

The study identified five factors to examine the impact on marital satisfaction of couples, including: marital relationship, communication behavior with spouse, level of harmony, satisfaction with behavior with spouse, and level of meeting expectations about marital life. All five factors above have a positive correlation with marital satisfaction at a relatively strong level. The factor with the greatest impact on marital satisfaction is marital relationship, the factor with the least impact is communication behavior with spouse.

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.

3.2. Conclusion

- Based on choosing the approach in the direction of Positive Psychology, the thesis has built the concept of“Marital satisfaction is a person's positive feelings about their marriage based on their feelings, attitudes, and expectations about marriage”.

- The thesis has described the current level of satisfaction with married life and analyzed some factors affecting the satisfaction with married life of couples. The thesis also pointed out the difference in the level of satisfaction with married life between different groups of couples.

- The thesis analyzed some typical couples, showing that the wife and husband have different feelings of satisfaction and happiness with the same marriage.

SUMMARY OF DOCTORAL THESIS

The author's name: Luu Thi Lich

Thesis title:Marital satisfactionin the first 5 years of marriagecouplesin Hanoi.

Scientific branch of the thesis:

Major: Psychology Code: 62 31 04 01

The name of postgraduate training institution: University of Social sciences and Humanities, Hanoi National University

1. Purpose and subject

1.1. Thesispurpose:to study theoretical and practical aspects of marital satisfaction in the first five years of marriage couple, based on psychological and social support to enhance the marital satisfaction for marriage couples.

1.2. Thesissubject:to examine the marital satisfaction level and factors affecting the marital satisfaction of marriage couples in the first 5 years in Hanoi.

2.Researchmethods

The thesis uses a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods including: Document research, questionnaire, In-depth interview, data processing using mathematical statistics. The research sample is 209 couples living together during the first 5 years of marriage in Hanoi.

3.Major resultsandconclusions

3.1.Major results

The statistics show that the majority of couples engaged in this research (78.5%) have high satisfaction level with married life. Only about 6.5% of couples engaging in this research are not satisfied with their married life.

The husbands tend to be more satisfied with their marriage than the wives. Those who live in the city's inlying areas are happier with their married life than those who live in the suburbs. Those who graduated from colleges/universities or achieved higher academic degrees are more satisfied with their married life than those who graduated from high school or lower level academic institutions. Those who have not had children are more satisfied with married life than couples with children. Couples who are in the first year of their marriage are happier than those who have been married for 1 to 5 years.

The research evaluates 5 factors that directly affect the satisfaction level in married life of the couples, including: the intimate relationship between the husband and the wife, the communication they have with their life friend, the harmony level, the satisfaction level with the behaviors of the other half, and how much their spouses satisfies their expectations in the married life. All 5 factors above have a positive correlation with their satisfaction with married life in a high level. The factor that most affects the satisfaction of couples with their married life is the relationship between the husband and the wife, and the factor that least affects that satisfaction level is the communication behaviors with their spouse.

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

 3.2. Conclusion

- On the basis of choosing the Positive Psychology approach, the thesis has built the definition“marital satisfaction is the positive feelings of one being about their married life based on their emotions, opinions and expectations about the married life”

- The thesis has described the reality of the satisfaction level with married life and analyzed some factors affecting the satisfaction of some couples with their married life. The thesis also points out the differences in the satisfaction level with married life among different groups of married couples.

-The thesis has analyzed some typical married couples, which shows that between the wife and the husband, the satisfaction level, and the happiness they experience are different in the same marriage.