• Human Ecology Research
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• v.59 no.1
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• pp.113-125
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• 2021

Previous research on the association between marriage and life satisfaction is limited due to the lack of attempts to investigate the time profiles of life satisfaction around marriage. This study addresses unresolved questions about the positive association between marriage and life satisfaction as well as tests if it is moderated by childhood parental divorce. Using 14 waves of the Korean Welfare Panel Study(N=3,890 individuals or 25,338 person-year observations), the author first used an ordinary least squares model with clustered standard errors and found that married people reported higher life satisfaction before marriage, compared to people who remained single during the survey. This result supports a social selection perspective. Next, the author used a fixed effects regression model and found that the transition into marriage was associated with an initial rise and subsequent decline in life satisfaction. Life satisfaction increased after reaching its lowest level in the third year of marriage. Life satisfaction after the transition into marriage was significantly higher than that observed three or more years prior to marriage. The result supports a social causation perspective. Such changing patterns were not moderated by parental divorce during childhood. This study advances the current literature on marriage and life satisfaction by using a nationally representative longitudinal data set as well as by testing social selection and causation perspectives.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.21 no.4
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• pp.1-15
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to identify the effect of satisfaction with the marriage support policy on marriage intention among unmarried employed men and women. The study subjects included 300 unmarried working men and women aged over 30 years residing in the Seoul metropolitan area. First, according to the analysis of the subjects' overall tendency towards satisfaction with the marriage support policy and towards marriage intention, the marriage support policy gained the highest level of support in relation to housing for newlywed couples, which scored 3.29 (sd=.93), followed by improvements in corporate and family culture for the purposes of work-family compatibility at 3.24 (sd=.95), wedding loans at 3.18 (sd=1.01), and the paid leave system for marriage preparation at 3.12 (sd=.88). These variables scored slightly higher than the median 3 points. Conversely, satisfaction with the availability of marriage-related information and the provision of opportunities for dating scored 2.65 (sd=.88) and 2.78 (sd=.80), respectively, both of which were slightly lower than the median of 3. The overall mean score for satisfaction with the marriage support policy was 3.03 (sd=.95), which was slightly higher than the median of 3. In regards to marriage intention, the score was 3.32 (sd=1.15) points out of a perfect score of 5, which was slightly higher than the median. This indicated a slightly higher level in terms of the subjects' intention to marry. Second, a hierarchical regression analysis was performed to identify the effect of satisfaction with the marriage support policy on marriage intention among unmarried employed adults. Sociodemographic variables were entered as control variables in the regression at the first stage, and variables relating to satisfaction in a family-friendly social environment were entered at the second stage. When gender, age, educational level, monthly income, period of employment, working hours, and type of employment were inserted in the first stage of regression as control variables, gender, monthly income, period of employment, and type of employment were found to have a significant effect on marriage intention. Marriage intention was found to be greater in unmarried men with higher monthly incomes and longer periods spent working, and in unmarried working men and women engaged in tenured employment work. When variables relating to satisfaction with the marriage support policy were inserted in the second stage of regression, gender, monthly income, type of employment, and satisfaction with direct marriage support had significant effects on marriage intention. It was found that marriage intention was greater in unmarried men whose monthly income was higher, whose employment type was tenured work, and who showed greater satisfaction with direct marriage support.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.14 no.2
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• pp.49-56
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• 2016

The purpose of the study is to explore mediation effect of marriage satisfaction when personality traits of married female immigrants would influence the preparation for old age. The survey targets are married female immigrants who live in Seoul, Gyeonggi province, Chungcheong province, and Jeolla province, who are using the programs of Multicultural Center, and who could communicate each other. The analysis was also conducted on 426 of 450 questionnaires. The findings are as follows. First of all, extroversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness of personality traits appear as positive correlation with emotional preparation, physical preparation, financial preparation, marriage satisfaction. However, financial preparation has no correlation with neuroticism. Second, personality traits and marriage satisfaction explain about emotional preparation as 34.6 %, but there is no mediation effect of marriage satisfaction. Third, personality traits and marriage satisfaction explain about physical preparation as 28.1%. In addition, agreeableness and physical preparation have mediation effect of marriage satisfaction. Fourth, personality traits and marriage satisfaction explain about financial preparation as 15.9%.. Moreover, openness and financial preparation have mediation effect of marriage satisfaction.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.219-231
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• 2023

This study examined attitudes toward factors underpinning a successful marriage and their associations with marital satisfaction among married men and women in midlife. The sample comprised 201 married men and women aged between 40 and 59 living in Seoul, South Korea, and the data were collected by a self-report survey in 2019. Attitudes toward factors underpinning a successful marriage were measured using 12 items from the European Values Study Master Questionnaire 2008 and marital satisfaction was measured using three items from the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale. Exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis were performed in order to identify the factors deemed important for a successful marriage, as well as a t-test to explore gendered domains. Additionally, regression analysis was conducted to examine the association between attitudes toward factors underpinning a successful marriage and marital satisfaction. The results revealed two factors that were deemed important for a successful marriage: 'marital exchange based on conditions' and 'qualitative interaction based on sharing.' Women were more likely to believe that both factors were important for a successful marriage than men. The regression analysis revealed that 'qualitative interaction based on sharing' had a positive association with marital satisfaction, while 'marital exchange based on conditions' had a negative association with marital satisfaction, and also that these associations did not differ by gender. The findings imply that a successful marriage can be achieved when married partners make efforts to maintain their relationships through positive interactions and share intimacy in midlife.

• Journal of Family Relations
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• v.22 no.3
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• pp.131-153
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• 2017

Objective: This study aimed to examine the effects of adult children's marriage-delay on their parents' mental health. Furthermore, this study investigated how the influence of adult children's marriage-delay on parents' mental health could vary depending on the coresidence and employment status of the marriage-delayed adult children. Method: Two waves of Korean Longitudinal Study of Ageing (KLoSA) were used for the analyses. Multiple regression models were conducted with 2,938 Korean parents who had at least one child, regardless of gender (aged 33~44). Results: First, adult children's marriage-delay was related to lower levels of parents' life satisfaction. Second, the levels of parents' life satisfaction were low regardless of residing with their marriage-delayed adult children, and the parents who were not living with their marriage-delayed adult children showed lower levels of life satisfaction than parents living with marriage-delayed adult children. Third, only the parents with unemployed marriage-delayed adult children showed significantly higher levels of depression. However, the levels of parents' life satisfaction were low regardless of the employment of marriage-delayed adult children, and the parents of unemployed marriage-delayed adult children showed lower levels of life satisfaction than the parents of employed marriage-delayed adult children. Conclusions: It is necessary to consider the effects of marriage, employment and coresidence of adult children on their parents in order to enhance the mental health of the parents. Also, the effects of marriage-delay on intimate relationships, such as family dynamics, need to be explored more in further research.

• Journal of Family Resource Management and Policy Review
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• v.21 no.1
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• pp.1-18
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• 2017

This study examined the predictors of life satisfaction of marriage migrant wives with school-aged children in South Korea. For this purpose, we draw data from the 2015 National Survey on Multi-cultural Families (NSMF). The target group was marriage migrant wives who were in a first marriage and had school-aged children (N=3,004). We used OLS regression to examine the predictors of the target group's life satisfaction with the SPSS 18.0 program. The results are as follows. First, marriage migrant wives with school-aged children had maintained their marriage for at least 14 years. They were satisfied with their relationships with both their spouses and their children. Also, they were satisfied with their spouse's child care roles. They did not support the multi-cultural policy of assimilation. Their Korean proficiency was slightly higher than the middle level. More than half had jobs and had not attended a parent meeting. Second, although they were satisfied with their everyday lives, their levels of life satisfaction were less than that of migrant wives with children below 5 years of age. Third, all variables explained 38.8% of the life satisfaction experienced by marriage migrant wives with school-aged children. Satisfaction with their spouses, subjective health, satisfaction of spouse's child care role, monthly family income, satisfaction with their children, experience attending a parents meeting, and Korean proficiency were positively associated with the life satisfaction of this target group. The findings of this study are significant because they can provide certain implications for family life education and policy within a multi-cultural society.

• Journal of Families and Better Life
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• v.28 no.1
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• pp.145-157
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• 2010

This is a study that explores the influence of self-differentiation and acculturation among married immigrant women on their feelings of marriage satisfaction by residential area. The aim was to verify the level of self-differentiation and acculturation that married immigrant women secure from multicultural marriage. To achieve this objective, the study widely distributed a questionnaire that targeted women who were participating in education and other services at health and family support centers, multi-cultural family support centers, general social welfare centers, immigrant women shelters, and Korean language classrooms which are located in Seoul, Gyeonggi, Chungcheong, Jeolla, and Gyeongsang. Data analysis involved frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, one-way-Anova, and multiple regression analysis. Based on the results of descriptive statistics, two factors, namely, (1)interpersonal-relation differentiation, a sub-scale of self-differentiation, and (2)marginalization, a sub-scale of acculturation, had the lowest average. In verifying its various hypotheses, the study achieved the following results. Firstly, among demographic characteristics, there was difference of the mean in the marriage period, average monthly income, the frequency of meetings with the married woman´s parents-in-law and her own parents, and the average cost of supporting the woman's parents-in-law and her own parents. Secondly, among demographic characteristics, the variable of influencing marriage satisfaction showed negative influence in the case of women dwelling in farming and fishing villages. This shows that women residing in cities whether small, medium or large have higher marriage satisfaction. Also, as a result of verifying whether self-differentiation has influence on marriage satisfaction, the element of interpersonal-relations differentiation had a negative influence on marriage satisfaction. Thirdly, as for influence of acculturation upon marriage satisfaction, the study showed that just integration, which is a sub-scale of acculturation had positive effect on marriage satisfaction. In other words, the study showed that the interpersonal-relation differentiation among the sub-scales of self-differentiation among married immigrant women had a negative influence, and that integration among the sub-scales in acculturation had a positive influence on marriage satisfaction. Based on these results, in order to increase interpersonal-relation differentiation, as well as marriage satisfaction among immigrant women, the study suggests the integration of the women's families with the nuclear and extended families in the communities where the women reside.

• Korean Journal of Human Ecology
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• v.19 no.5
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• pp.761-774
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• 2010

This study examined the relationship between parental efficacy, marriage satisfaction, social support, neighborhood context, and parental involvement in preschool children's education in low income families. Total 460 low income parents' data about parental efficacy, marriage satisfaction, social support, neighborhood context, and parental involvement are collected from the data of index studies for Korean child and adolescent's development in 2009. Parental efficacy, marriage satisfaction, perceived social support and perceived neighborhood context correlated positively with parental involvement. Regression analysis detected different patterns of association between these variables and the three dimensions of parent involvement. Perceived neighborhood context was associated with child care involvement, while parental efficacy was the most influential factor related to child leisure involvement. Marriage satisfaction was the strongest factor influencing involvement in children's educational activity. These results support the validity of a multi-dimensional, ecological conceptualization of parent involvement in low income families.

• Human Ecology Research
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• v.54 no.2
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• pp.165-180
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• 2016

This study analyzes the correlations of participation motivation, education satisfaction, and positive behavioral intention for participants in marriage enrichment programs. The survey response results for 193 participants in marriage enrichment programs were analyzed with the statistics analysis application IBM SPSS 20.0. The findings of this study are as follows. An examination of relative influence of participation motivation and education satisfaction with the positive behavioral intention of participants in marriage enrichment programs indicated that internal motivation had a positive influence on education satisfaction, external motivation had a negative influence on satisfaction for facility environment and satisfaction with employee service, and motivation had positive influence only on facility environment. An examination of the influence of participation motivation and education satisfaction with the positive behavioral intention of the participants in marriage enrichment programs indicated that internal motivation and external motivation had a high positive influence on positive behavioral intention. However, motivation did not have a significant influence on behavior after participation. In education satisfaction, satisfaction with content, satisfaction with instructor, and satisfaction with employee service had a positive influence on positive behavioral intention, however, satisfaction with facility environment had negative influence on positive behavioral intention.

• Journal of the Korean Home Economics Association
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• v.31 no.2
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• pp.81-96
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• 1993

The purpose of this study is to investigate how external pressures to remain married and alternative attractions to a marriage influence the relationship between marital satisfaction and marital stability. A total of 228 married women in Seoul responded to structured questionnaires. The major findings are as follows; 1. While the marital satisfaction is positively associated with the marital stability, the alternative attractions to a marriage are negatively associated with the marital stability. But there is no significant correlation between external pressures to remain married and marital stability. 2. The relationship strength between marital satisfaction and marital stability according to the level of external pressures to remain married and actual alternatives to a marriage is not appeared significant difference. 3. When the external pressures to remain marred are low and the imaginary alternatives to a marriage are low, marital satisfaction is the most powerful predictor of marital stability. 4. Whether wife has a job and marital satisfaction affected the marital stability independently.