Psychological Factors Affecting Marital Satisfaction in Working Wives and Non-working Wives

Abstract

One of the human development tasks which are interesting to study is marriage. Marriage is dyadic relations between husband and wife. The success couple is proven by the achievement of marital satisfaction on both sides. In this modern era, marital satisfaction is a challenge, especially for working wives. The balance between work and household becomes important point for working wives. This research aimed to investigate the relationships of communication, conflict resolution, sexual intimacy, financial relation, and marital satisfaction among working wives, and among non-working wives. A total number of 225 wives in Indonesia participated in this study, which were divided into groups of working wives and non-working wives. A set of questionnaire consisting of the scales of communication, conflict resolution, sexual intimacy, financial relation, and marital satisfaction was used to do the data collection. Regression linear analysis on these two groups of wives showed different results. In the working wife group, communication, sexual intimacy and financial relation influenced marital satisfaction; whereas in the non-working wife group, marital satisfaction was only influenced by financial relation. Further details and implications for couples and marriage counsellors will be presented.