Relationships among Marital Satisfaction, Happiness and Gratitude Expression in the Aged Married Couples
Abstract
This research aims to examine relationships among expressional gratitude, marital satisfaction and happiness in aged married couples over forty years old. One hundred and eighty five couples living in Busan participated this study. Husbands showed more gratitude expressions in ‘return behavior' and ‘reflection' areas than wives did. Husbands also reported that they received more gratitude expression from their wives than wives did. According to stepwise regression analysis of predicted variables on marital satisfaction, husband's perceived gratitude expression given by their wife was a robust and essential factor to explain husband's marital satisfaction. On the other hand, wives's expressed gratitude toward their husband was a major factor to predict wives' marital satisfaction. The dispositional gratitude was the most crucial factor for couple's happiness but not for marital satisfaction. Compared between perceived gratitude more group and expressed gratitude more group, wives in expressed gratitude more group toward their husbands reported more marital satisfaction than wives in perceived gratitude more group provided by husbands. In contrast, husbands in perceived gratitude more group showed more marital satisfaction than husbands in expressed gratitude more group. The results suggest that couple's expressed gratitude toward one's spouse may be a promoting variable to enhance positive relationship, wheras dispositional gratitude may be a variable that enhances happiness.
- keywords
- gratitude expression, dispositional gratitude, marital satisfaction, happiness, aged married couples, 감사표현, 감사성향, 결혼만족도, 행복감, 부부쌍
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