Does Similarity Breed Marital and Sexual Satisfaction?

Abstract

This study examined the effect of socioeconomic-cultural homogamy on the marital and sexual satisfaction of Hong Kong Chinese couples. Using a representative, territory-wide sample of 1,083 first-time married heterosexual couples, this study found that wives were generally less satisfied than their husbands with their marital and sexual relationships. Husbands were more likely to be satisfied with their marriages when they were two to four years older than their wives than when they were of similar age to their wives (i.e., within one year of each other), but they were less likely to be satisfied with their marriages when only their wives were employed than when both partners were employed. In addition, they were less likely to be satisfied with both their marital and sexual relationships when their wives were five or more years older. Wives with an older husband were more likely to be sexually satisfied than wives of the same age as their husband, but they were less likely to be satisfied with their marriages when they were better educated than their husbands. The implications of the findings are discussed.

Profiles of Higher Earning Wives in Hong Kong and the Implications for Marital Satisfaction

“…The plausible explanation is that the married women's employment in contemporary Hong Kong should be looked on dialectically, which may fulfill employed women's career aspirations and enhance family financial well-being on the positive side (Spain & Bianchi, 1996), and may also lead to work-family conflict as a result of long working hours on the negative side (Ng & Chakrabaty, 2005). Compared with their husbands, lower earning wives reported lower marital satisfaction, which is consistent with both Western and Chinese findings (Parish et al, 2007;Shek, 1995;Zhang et al, 2012). It is well known that women are more sensitive to the emotional quality of marital relationships whereas men benefit from the status of being married (Nock, 2001).…”

Making Sense of Hurtful Mother-in-law Messages: Applying Attribution Theory to the In-Law Triad

“…Those making attributions for the same behavior are likely to disagree at times (e.g., Manusov et al, 1997). Broadly, general similarity within couples coincides with their well-being and relational longevity (e.g., Zhang, Ho, & Yip, 2012). Indeed, spouses' differing perspectives are linked to poorer relational health (Sillars et al, 2001).…”

Female sexuality at reproductive age as an indicator of satisfaction with life – descriptive cross-sectional survey

“…Women find their sexual life satisfactory when a number of psychological criteria are fulfilled. Among these are safety, intimacy and close bond between partners [25].…”