empirical research comparing the marital satisfaction

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• Open access
• Published: 07 February 2020

The relationship between personality traits and marital satisfaction: a systematic review and meta-analysis

• Kourosh Sayehmiri 1 ,
• Karez Ibrahim Kareem 2 ,
• Kamel Abdi 3 ,
• Sahar Dalvand 4 &
• Reza Ghanei Gheshlagh   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-7414-8134 5  

BMC Psychology volume  8 , Article number:  15 ( 2020 ) Cite this article

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Personality traits can be used to predict an individual’s behaviors in different life situations, including marital life situations. Marital satisfaction that is influenced by different factors is a criterion used to assess couples’ relationship quality. The goal of the present study was to review Iranian studies on the correlation between personality traits and marital satisfaction.

In this systematic review, all the related Iranian studies in international databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science (ISI) and Scopus, and national databases, including Scientific Information Database (SID) and MagIran were reviewed. The following keywords and also combinations of them were used to search the databases: “Marital satisfaction,” “Personality traits,” “Personality factors,” “Big five model of personality,” and “Iran.”

A total of 18 correlational studies, without any time limitation, with a total sample of 4049, were reviewed. The following correlation coefficients were found between marital satisfaction and personality traits: r = − 0.439 with neuroticism (95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.27–0.60), r = 0.833 with extraversion (95% CI: 0.77–0.88), r = 0.777 with openness (95% CI: 0.70–0.84), r = 0.855 with agreeableness (95% CI: 0.80–0.90), and r = 0.90 with conscientiousness (95% CI: 0.84–0.95).

Conclusions

Couples high in Neuroticism experience lower levels of marital satisfaction, and couples high in Conscientiousness are more satisfied with their marital life.

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Many couples see marriage as a sacred covenant that leads to family formation [ 1 ]. Stability of the family structure is dependent on the couple’s relationship quality. Dysfunctional marital relationships or unsuccessful marriages not only threaten couples’ mental health but also endanger the survival of the family unit [ 2 ]. Despite the fact that half of the first marriages in the United States end in divorce, the decision to divorce does not necessarily mean that people do not want to remarry and have a happy life. Therefore, two-thirds of couples in the US remarry within 5 years after divorce [ 3 ]. Marital satisfaction that results from sexual and emotional satisfaction is a measure of couples’ relationship quality, showing their subjective evaluation of the quality of their relationship [ 2 , 4 ]. Marital satisfaction is a multidimensional concept comprising of different aspects of marital relationship, including adjustment, happiness, integrity, and commitment [ 5 ]. Marital satisfaction is a multidimensional concept comprising of different aspects of marital relationship [ 6 ].

Marital satisfaction is a mental state that is not achieved automatically, but requires the couple’s ongoing efforts to realize it, especially in the early years of marriage, because in this stage, marital satisfaction is unstable and marital relationship is at risk [ 7 ]. A couple experiences marital satisfaction when their marital relationship is consistent with what they had expected [ 2 ]. Marriage is a bond between two people with different personalities [ 8 ]. Claxton states that long-term and ideal romantic relationship requires that people, in assessment of their partner, go beyond physical characteristics, and consider personality traits [ 9 ]. Different factors, such as socioeconomic status, education, age, ethnicity, religious beliefs, physical attractiveness, Intelligence Quotient, and personal values and attitudes influence marital satisfaction, and can predict higher levels of marital satisfaction in couples [ 10 ].

Personality traits are among the factors influencing marital satisfaction. Karney et al. concluded that personality predicted life satisfaction [ 11 ]. Considering that people go into marriage with different personality traits, it can be said that marital relationship is a bond between two different personalities [ 12 ]. On the other hand, people tend to impose their behavioral and performance characteristics to their partner; therefore, their personality can act a stressor in their marital relationship [ 13 ]. For many years, it was a challenge for researchers to define personality, therefore different definitions were provided for this concept. Although there are many different personality traits, today, most researchers agree that the five-factor model can properly describe different aspects of personality [ 14 ]. According to this model, personality has five dimensions: neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, and conscientiousness [ 15 ]. Neuroticism refers to one’s tendency to experience such feelings as anxiety, hostility, impulsivity, depression, and low self-esteem. Extraverts are more likely to be positive, assertive, and gregarious. Openness is related to such characteristics as curiosity, loving art, and wisdom. Agreeableness is related to such characteristics as kindness, generosity, empathy, and altruism. Conscientious people tend to be trustworthy and self-disciplined, and show aim for achievement People with different personality traits can have different attitudes toward different aspects of marital satisfaction [ 16 ].

In recent years, the number of marriages in Iran has declined for a variety of reasons, and divorce rates have increased significantly. Couples personality traits can be one of the factors associated with divorce and marital satisfaction. Iranian studies on this subject have reported inconsistent results. Some studies have not led to comprehensive results, and have only assessed the relationship of one personality trait (especially neuroticism) with marital satisfaction. Therefore, this systematic review and meta-analysis is aimed at examining the associations between marital satisfaction and personality traits in the Iranian population.

This is a systematic review and meta-analysis aimed at reviewing the relationship between personality traits and marital satisfaction reported by Iranian studies, without any time limitation, based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses (PRISMA) statement [ 17 ].

Search strategy

International databases, including Google Scholar, PubMed, Web of Science (ISI) and Scopus, and national databases, including Scientific Information Database (SID) and MagIran were searched. The following keywords and also combinations of them were used to search the databases: “Marital satisfaction,” “Personality traits,” “Personality factors,” “Big five model of personality,” and “Iran.” In in the Persian databases, Persian equivalents of the keywords were used. Articles’ reference lists were also examined to find more related articles. Finally, a total of 18 articles were selected.

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

We first collected all articles on the relationship between personality traits and marital satisfaction. Published in Persian and English and availability of the full text of the articles were among the inclusion criteria. Only the studies were included in the review that had used the NEO Five Factor Inventory (NEO-FFI) to assess personality traits and the ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Inventory to measure marital satisfaction. Studies that had not reported the correlation of all personality traits with marital satisfaction were excluded. Two authors of the present study independently reviewed the collected articles based on the inclusion and exclusion criteria. They first screened the articles based on titles and abstracts, and then reviewed the full text of the articles. Any disagreement between the two authors was resolved by asking the opinion of the third author.

Data extraction

A form asking about the following information was used to extract data: Name of the first author, articles’ year of publication, articles’ country of publication, study design, and correlation coefficients reported between personality traits and marital satisfaction. The data were independently extracted by two authors, and when there was disagreement between them, were examined by the anothe author. In order to examine the methodological quality of the studies, an instrument commonly used in the Iranian and non-Iranian studies was used that assessed 5 aspects, including study design, comparison group, describing the characteristics of participants, sample size, and detailed description of the instruments used to gather data. Each aspect received a score from 0 to 3, and the total score ranged from 0 to 15. Based on methodological quality, the articles were divided into three categories: poor (0 to 5), average (6 to 10), and strong (above 10) [ 18 , 19 ].

Statistical analysis

The study data were analyzed using the random effects model (Mantel-Hansel). Using the normal distribution, the standard error of the mean was determined for each study. The effect size of each study was estimated using the following formula: \( Z=0.5\ \mathrm{In}\frac{1+\mathrm{r}}{1-\mathrm{r}} \) , where r is the correlation coefficient. The following formula was used to convert Z scores to r values: \( r=\frac{\exp \left(2\mathrm{z}\right)-1}{\exp \left(2\mathrm{z}\right)+1} \) . After converting the Z scores, the effect size pooled was obtained using the random effects model. The Chi-Square test with 0.1 significance level and the I 2 index were used to assess heterogeneity among the studies. An I 2 value of below 25% was considered as low heterogeneity, 25 to 75% as average heterogeneity, and above 75% as high heterogeneity [ 20 ]. The I 2 index shows the proportion of observed differences among the reported indices that is due to heterogeneity among the studies. Heterogeneity was also examined using meta-regression and subgroup analysis. Univariate and multivariate methods were used to assess the causes of heterogeneity among the selected studies. In addition, the Egger’s test was used to examine potential publication bias.

In the initial search, 108 articles were identified, but 18 articles were selected using the inclusion criteria for final data analysis (Fig.  1 ).

The screening process and selection of articles for meta-analysis based on the PRISMA guideline

Correlational studies without any time limitation were used. The total sample size was 4049 (mean: 225). The smallest ( n  = 43) and largest ( n  = 714) sample sizes were for the studies by Yaseminejad [ 21 ] and Sadeghi [ 22 ], respectively. Al the selected studies had average methodological quality. Table  1 shows the characteristics of the studies (Table 1 ).

According to the results, the following correlation coefficients were found between marital satisfaction and personality traits: r = − 0.439 with neuroticism (with 95% Confidence Interval [CI]: 0.27–0.60), r = 0.833 with extraversion (with 95% CI: 0.77–0.88), r = 0.777 with openness (with 95% CI: 0.70–0.84), r = 0.855 with agreeableness (with 95% CI: 0.80–0.90), and r = 0.90 with Conscientiousness (with 95% CI: 0.84–0.95). Participants in the reviewed studies were divided into two populations: government employees and the general population. The findings based on these populations indicated that in both groups, the highest correlation was between marital satisfaction and conscientiousness, and the lowest correlation was between marital satisfaction and neuroticism. Findings based on article region indicated that in all regions of Iran (except for the region 2), the highest correlation was between marital satisfaction and conscientiousness, and the lowest correlation was between marital satisfaction and neuroticism. Findings based on article language showed that marital satisfaction had the highest correlation with conscientiousness and the lowest correlation with neuroticism. The Correlation between dimension of NEOs and Marital Satisfaction in all the Studied is presented in Table  2 .

The present study, aimed at examining the correlation between marital satisfaction and personality traits, indicated that marital satisfaction had a negative correlation with neuroticism; this finding is in line with the findings of a longitudinal study by Caughlin et al. [ 34 ]. In a longitudinal study by Fisher and McNulty with 72 couples in Ohio, United States, high levels of neuroticism predicted low levels of marital satisfaction 1 year later [ 35 ]. Individuals high in neuroticism often experience such feelings as sorrow, anger, and dissatisfaction with self, feelings that can reduce their overall happiness in life. Because these people are more likely to be moody and irritable, they are not expected to experience higher levels of marital satisfaction [ 36 , 37 ]. Barelds showed that neuroticism reduced marital satisfaction [ 38 ]. In a study by Karney and Bradbury, neuroticism explained 10% of the variance of marital satisfaction [ 11 ]. Taraghijah notes that people high in Neuroticism feel less happiness because they put more emphasis on negative life events [ 23 ].

Other reasons for lower levels of marital satisfaction in people with high neuroticism include negative interpretation of ambiguous events [ 39 ], negative interactions with partner [ 40 ], negative interpersonal behavior during conflict and higher aggressive externalization [ 41 ], and lower levels of sexual satisfaction [ 35 ].

Attitude affects marital satisfaction. Due to the fact that attitude depends on personality, it can be concluded that people with different personality traits have different attitudes towards marriage and this can influence their marital satisfaction. In the present study, we aimed to examine the association between marital satisfaction and personality traits in Iranian older adults. People high in neuroticism tend to cope with life stressors less adaptively and are more likely to interpret normal situations as threatening or small frustrations as severe despair. Life satisfaction has many ups and downs that require patience and forgiveness from both partners, but people high in neuroticism tend to get stressed out and moody in the face of these problems, therefore jeopardizing not only their marital relationship but also their social and professional life.

The negative effects of neuroticism on marital satisfaction may be through creating anxiety, tension, pity-seeking, hostility, impulsivity, depression, and low self-esteem [ 32 ]. Personality traits like emotional instability and neuroticism may keep couples in a persistent state of vulnerability and influence the way they adapt to life stressors [ 42 ]. A 13-year longitudinal study among couples indicated that negative marital interaction resulted from high neuroticism. In other words, it was found that people high in neuroticism tend to display negative behavior towards their partners that in turn reduces marital satisfaction in both partners [ 34 ].

In the present study, a strong correlation was found between marital satisfaction and conscientiousness that is consistent with the findings of Claxton et al. [ 9 ] Given that conscientious people are self-disciplined, principled, and able to effectively handle relationship issues, they are expected to experience high levels of marital satisfaction [ 29 ]. Engel et al. (2002) found that conscientiousness was the best predictor of couple intimacy and commitment in men. They maintained that conscientious people show higher levels of intimacy in their relationships; therefore they are more able to build successful relationships [ 43 ]. In a study with 40–70-year-old couples who had been married more than 15 years, Shiota et al. (2007) found that marital satisfaction had the strong correlations with extraversion and conscientiousness [ 44 ]. In a longitudinal study conducted in Switzerland, satisfaction in intimate couples was positively correlated with agreeableness and conscientiousness [ 45 ]. Gattis et al. (2004) found that marital dissatisfaction was associated with low conscientiousness and high neuroticism [ 46 ]. People high in conscientiousness refrain from showing aggression and are capable of controlling their impulses in marital relationship [ 30 ]. Ahadi maintains that individuals low in conscientiousness resort to alcohol and physical aggression as a response to marital stressors, and this gradually reduces their marital satisfaction [ 32 ].

The present study was aimed at examining the relationship between marital satisfaction and personality traits in the Iranian population. The main limitation of this study was that most of the articles reviewed had not provided adequate information on the subject under study or had only examined the relationship of marital satisfaction with neuroticism, while ignoring the other four aspects. The other limitation was the lack of access to PsychInfo as a popular database. However, reviewing other articles and checking reference lists of the selected articles helped us make sure that the related studies conducted in Iran were collected and analyzed as much as possible.

The study results indicated that couples high in neuroticism had low levels of marital satisfaction, while couples high in conscientiousness were more satisfied with their marital relationship. Because personality traits are relatively stable over time, they can be used to predict an individual’s behaviors in different life situations, including marital relationship. Examination of couples’ personality traits can improve our knowledge on the personality traits related to poor marital satisfaction that increase the risk of separation and divorce, and also the personality traits that are associated with a better, healthier, and more stable marital relationship.

Given the mutual relationship between personality and interpersonal relationships [ 47 ], healthcare providers, including psychologists and marriage counsellors need to pay more attention to these variables and the relationship between them, because evaluation of personality traits of both partners may have a considerable role in partner selection and also in avoiding marital maladjustment and marital satisfaction, and improper partner selection can lead to personality problems through creating marital maladjustment. The findings of the present study can help health care officials in analyzing personality traits and marital satisfaction, therefore, taking appropriate measures to strengthen the marital relationship of Iranian couples.

Availability of data and materials

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author on reasonable request.

Abbreviations

Confidence Interval

Web of Science

NEO Five Factor Inventory

Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses

Scientific Information Database

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Health Faculty, Biostatistics Department, Ilam University of Medical Sciences, Ilam, Iran

Kourosh Sayehmiri

Department of Business Administration, College of Business and Economics, Bayan University, Erbil, Kurdistan, Iraq

Karez Ibrahim Kareem

Nursing Department, Komar University of Science and Technology, Sulimaniya, Iraq

Department of epidemiology and Biostatistics, school of Public Health, Tehran University of Medical sciences, Tehran, Iran

Sahar Dalvand

Social Determinants of Health Research Center, Research Institute for Health Development, Kurdistan University of Medical Sciences, Sanandaj, Iran

Reza Ghanei Gheshlagh

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RGG and SD contributed in design and performing systematic review, KS and SD conduct data analyses, KIK and KA contributed to grammar editing. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.

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Sayehmiri, K., Kareem, K.I., Abdi, K. et al. The relationship between personality traits and marital satisfaction: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Psychol 8 , 15 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-0383-z

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DOI : https://doi.org/10.1186/s40359-020-0383-z

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Research on the Nature and Determinants of Marital Satisfaction: A Decade in Review

2000, Journal of Marriage and The Family

Scientific study of marital satisfaction attracted widespread attention in the 1990s from scholars representing diverse orientations and goals. This article highlights key conceptual and empirical advances that have emerged in the past decade, with particular emphasis on (a) interpersonal processes that operate within marriage, including cognition, affect, physiology, behavioral patterning, social support, and violence; (b) the milieus within which marriages operate, including microcontexts (e.g., the presence of children, life stressors and transitions) and macrocontexts (e.g., economic factors, perceived mate availability); and (c) the conceptualization and measurement of marital satisfaction, including 2-dimensional, trajectory-based, and social-cognitive approaches. Notwithstanding the continued need for theoretical progress in understanding the nature and determinants of marital satisfaction, we conclude by calling for more large-scale longitudinal research that links marital processes with sociocultural contexts, for more disconfirmatory than confirmatory research, and for research that directly guides preventive, clinical, and policy-level interventions.

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Global perspective on marital satisfaction

Małgorzata Dobrowolska * , Agata Groyecka-Bernard, Piotr Sorokowski, Ashley K. Randall, Peter Hilpert, Khodabakhsh Ahmadi, Ahmad M. Alghraibeh, Richmond Aryeetey, Anna Bertoni, Karim Bettache, Marta Błażejewska, Guy Bodenmann, Tiago S. Bortolini, Carla Bosc, Marina Butovskaya, Felipe N. Castro, Hakan Cetinkaya, Diana Cunha, Daniel David, Oana Alexandra David Fahd A. Dileym, Alejandra C. Domínguez Espinosa, Silvia Donato, Daria Dronova, Seda Dural, Maryanne Fisher, Tomasz Frackowiak, Aslıhan Hamamcıoğlu Akkaya, Takeshi Hamamura, Karolina Hansen, Wallisen Tadashi Hattori, Ivana Hromatko, Evrim Gulbetekin, Raffaella Iafrate, Bawo James, Feng Jiang, Charles O. Kimamo, Fırat Koç, Anna Krasnodębska, Fívia A. Lopes, Rocio Martinez, Norbert Meskó, Natalya Molodovskaya, Khadijeh Moradi Qezeli, Zahrasadat Motahari, Jean Carlos Natividade, Joseph Ntayi, Oluyinka Ojedokun, Mohd S.B. Omar-Fauzee, Ike E. Onyishi, Barış Özener, Anna Paluszak, Alda Portugal, Anu Realo, Ana Paula Relvas, Muhammad Rizwan, Agnieszka Sabiniewicz, Svjetlana Salkičević, Ivan Sarmány-Schuller, Eftychia Stamkou, Stanislava Stoyanova, Denisa Šukolová, Nina Sutresna, Meri Tadinac, Andero Teras, Edna Lúcia Tinoco Ponciano, Ritu Tripathi , Nachiketa Tripathi, Mamta Tripathi, Maria E. Yamamoto, Gyesook Yoo, Agnieszka Sorokowska Show 52 others Show less

• School of Education and Social Policy

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Across the world, millions of couples get married each year. One of the strongest predictors of whether partners will remain in their relationship is their reported satisfaction. Marital satisfaction is commonly found to be a key predictor of both individual and relational well-being. Despite its importance in predicting relationship longevity, there are relatively few empirical research studies examining predictors of marital satisfaction outside of a Western context. To address this gap in the literature and complete the existing knowledge about global predictors of marital satisfaction, we used an open-access database of self-reported assessments of self-reported marital satisfaction with data from 7178 participants representing 33 different countries. The results showed that sex, age, religiosity, economic status, education, and cultural values were related, to various extents, to marital satisfaction across cultures. However, marriage duration, number of children, and gross domestic product (GDP) were not found to be predictors of marital satisfaction for countries represented in this sample. While 96% of the variance of marital satisfaction was attributed to individual factors, only 4% was associated with countries. Together, the results show that individual differences have a larger influence on marital satisfaction compared to the country of origin. Findings are discussed in terms of the advantages of conducting studies on large cross-cultural samples.

• Collectivistic values
• Economic status
• Global perspective
• Gross domestic product (GDP)
• Marital satisfaction

ASJC Scopus subject areas

• Computer Science (miscellaneous)
• Geography, Planning and Development
• Renewable Energy, Sustainability and the Environment
• Environmental Science (miscellaneous)
• Energy Engineering and Power Technology
• Hardware and Architecture
• Computer Networks and Communications
• Management, Monitoring, Policy and Law

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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• 10.3390/su12218817

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• data INIS 100%
• assessments INIS 100%
• education INIS 100%
• comparative evaluations INIS 100%
• children INIS 100%
• origin INIS 100%
• values INIS 100%
• economics INIS 100%

T1 - Global perspective on marital satisfaction

AU - Dobrowolska, Małgorzata

AU - Groyecka-Bernard, Agata

AU - Sorokowski, Piotr

AU - Randall, Ashley K.

AU - Hilpert, Peter

AU - Ahmadi, Khodabakhsh

AU - Alghraibeh, Ahmad M.

AU - Aryeetey, Richmond

AU - Bertoni, Anna

AU - Bettache, Karim

AU - Błażejewska, Marta

AU - Bodenmann, Guy

AU - Bortolini, Tiago S.

AU - Bosc, Carla

AU - Butovskaya, Marina

AU - Castro, Felipe N.

AU - Cetinkaya, Hakan

AU - Cunha, Diana

AU - David, Daniel

AU - David, Oana Alexandra

AU - Dileym, Fahd A.

AU - Domínguez Espinosa, Alejandra C.

AU - Donato, Silvia

AU - Dronova, Daria

AU - Dural, Seda

AU - Fisher, Maryanne

AU - Frackowiak, Tomasz

AU - Akkaya, Aslıhan Hamamcıoğlu

AU - Hamamura, Takeshi

AU - Hansen, Karolina

AU - Hattori, Wallisen Tadashi

AU - Hromatko, Ivana

AU - Gulbetekin, Evrim

AU - Iafrate, Raffaella

AU - James, Bawo

AU - Jiang, Feng

AU - Kimamo, Charles O.

AU - Koç, Fırat

AU - Krasnodębska, Anna

AU - Lopes, Fívia A.

AU - Martinez, Rocio

AU - Meskó, Norbert

AU - Molodovskaya, Natalya

AU - Qezeli, Khadijeh Moradi

AU - Motahari, Zahrasadat

AU - Natividade, Jean Carlos

AU - Ntayi, Joseph

AU - Ojedokun, Oluyinka

AU - Omar-Fauzee, Mohd S.B.

AU - Onyishi, Ike E.

AU - Özener, Barış

AU - Paluszak, Anna

AU - Portugal, Alda

AU - Realo, Anu

AU - Relvas, Ana Paula

AU - Rizwan, Muhammad

AU - Sabiniewicz, Agnieszka

AU - Salkičević, Svjetlana

AU - Sarmány-Schuller, Ivan

AU - Stamkou, Eftychia

AU - Stoyanova, Stanislava

AU - Šukolová, Denisa

AU - Sutresna, Nina

AU - Tadinac, Meri

AU - Teras, Andero

AU - Ponciano, Edna Lúcia Tinoco

AU - Tripathi, Ritu

AU - Tripathi, Nachiketa

AU - Tripathi, Mamta

AU - Yamamoto, Maria E.

AU - Yoo, Gyesook

AU - Sorokowska, Agnieszka

N1 - Publisher Copyright: © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.

PY - 2020/11/1

Y1 - 2020/11/1

N2 - Across the world, millions of couples get married each year. One of the strongest predictors of whether partners will remain in their relationship is their reported satisfaction. Marital satisfaction is commonly found to be a key predictor of both individual and relational well-being. Despite its importance in predicting relationship longevity, there are relatively few empirical research studies examining predictors of marital satisfaction outside of a Western context. To address this gap in the literature and complete the existing knowledge about global predictors of marital satisfaction, we used an open-access database of self-reported assessments of self-reported marital satisfaction with data from 7178 participants representing 33 different countries. The results showed that sex, age, religiosity, economic status, education, and cultural values were related, to various extents, to marital satisfaction across cultures. However, marriage duration, number of children, and gross domestic product (GDP) were not found to be predictors of marital satisfaction for countries represented in this sample. While 96% of the variance of marital satisfaction was attributed to individual factors, only 4% was associated with countries. Together, the results show that individual differences have a larger influence on marital satisfaction compared to the country of origin. Findings are discussed in terms of the advantages of conducting studies on large cross-cultural samples.

AB - Across the world, millions of couples get married each year. One of the strongest predictors of whether partners will remain in their relationship is their reported satisfaction. Marital satisfaction is commonly found to be a key predictor of both individual and relational well-being. Despite its importance in predicting relationship longevity, there are relatively few empirical research studies examining predictors of marital satisfaction outside of a Western context. To address this gap in the literature and complete the existing knowledge about global predictors of marital satisfaction, we used an open-access database of self-reported assessments of self-reported marital satisfaction with data from 7178 participants representing 33 different countries. The results showed that sex, age, religiosity, economic status, education, and cultural values were related, to various extents, to marital satisfaction across cultures. However, marriage duration, number of children, and gross domestic product (GDP) were not found to be predictors of marital satisfaction for countries represented in this sample. While 96% of the variance of marital satisfaction was attributed to individual factors, only 4% was associated with countries. Together, the results show that individual differences have a larger influence on marital satisfaction compared to the country of origin. Findings are discussed in terms of the advantages of conducting studies on large cross-cultural samples.

KW - Children

KW - Collectivistic values

KW - Economic status

KW - Global perspective

KW - Gross domestic product (GDP)

KW - Marital satisfaction

KW - Religion

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85094586488&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.3390/su12218817

DO - 10.3390/su12218817

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:85094586488

SN - 2071-1050

JO - Sustainability (Switzerland)

JF - Sustainability (Switzerland)

• Help & FAQ

Global Marital Satisfaction Versus Marital Adjustment: An Empirical Comparison of Three Measures

• Cariology and Comprehensive Care

Research output : Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Two measures of marital satisfaction, the Quality of Marriage Index (R. Norton, 1983) and the Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. D. Burns & S. L. Sayers, 1992) were compared to a measure of marital adjustment, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (G. B. Spanier, 1976). The measures showed excellent convergent validity (high correlations among each other and with other measures of marital functioning) and discriminant validity (low or nonsignificant correlations with psychopathology subscales). However, spouses' ratings of frequency of disagreements differed significantly from their ratings of satisfaction in the same areas. Formulas for converting scores among the measures are given, and the measures were found to have modest classification powers. The relative advantages and disadvantages of adjustment and satisfaction measures are discussed, and recommendations are made for when to use each type of measure.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

• General Psychology

Access to Document

• 10.1037/0893-3200.8.4.432

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• Link to publication in Scopus
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• Social Adjustment Medicine & Life Sciences 100%
• rating Social Sciences 38%
• Marriage Medicine & Life Sciences 30%
• Spouses Medicine & Life Sciences 26%
• psychopathology Social Sciences 26%
• Psychopathology Medicine & Life Sciences 25%
• spouse Social Sciences 24%
• marriage Social Sciences 20%

T1 - Global Marital Satisfaction Versus Marital Adjustment

T2 - An Empirical Comparison of Three Measures

AU - Heyman, Richard E.

AU - Sayers, Steven L.

AU - Bellack, Alan S.

PY - 1994/12

Y1 - 1994/12

N2 - Two measures of marital satisfaction, the Quality of Marriage Index (R. Norton, 1983) and the Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. D. Burns & S. L. Sayers, 1992) were compared to a measure of marital adjustment, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (G. B. Spanier, 1976). The measures showed excellent convergent validity (high correlations among each other and with other measures of marital functioning) and discriminant validity (low or nonsignificant correlations with psychopathology subscales). However, spouses' ratings of frequency of disagreements differed significantly from their ratings of satisfaction in the same areas. Formulas for converting scores among the measures are given, and the measures were found to have modest classification powers. The relative advantages and disadvantages of adjustment and satisfaction measures are discussed, and recommendations are made for when to use each type of measure.

AB - Two measures of marital satisfaction, the Quality of Marriage Index (R. Norton, 1983) and the Relationship Satisfaction Questionnaire (D. D. Burns & S. L. Sayers, 1992) were compared to a measure of marital adjustment, the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (G. B. Spanier, 1976). The measures showed excellent convergent validity (high correlations among each other and with other measures of marital functioning) and discriminant validity (low or nonsignificant correlations with psychopathology subscales). However, spouses' ratings of frequency of disagreements differed significantly from their ratings of satisfaction in the same areas. Formulas for converting scores among the measures are given, and the measures were found to have modest classification powers. The relative advantages and disadvantages of adjustment and satisfaction measures are discussed, and recommendations are made for when to use each type of measure.

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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=21844509599&partnerID=8YFLogxK

U2 - 10.1037/0893-3200.8.4.432

DO - 10.1037/0893-3200.8.4.432

M3 - Article

AN - SCOPUS:21844509599

SN - 0893-3200

JO - Journal of Family Psychology

JF - Journal of Family Psychology

The Role of Relative Income in Determining Marital Satisfaction for Husband and Wife in China

• Original Paper
• Published: 10 May 2023
• Volume 45 , pages 45–55, ( 2024 )

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• Yunchao Cai   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0933-8943 1 &
• Qian Li 1 , 2  

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The role of relative income has been greatly discussed in the studies of subjective well-being. However, it is rarely studied with couple’s relationship satisfaction. This study uses two waves of data from the China Family Panel Survey (N = 9,291 in the 2014 wave, and N = 6,844 in the 2018 wave) to examine the association between relative income status and couple’s marriage satisfaction. The multivariable logistic analyses were applied to test the hypotheses. Generally, we find that the relative income status compared with people out-household has an important role in explaining marital satisfaction for husband and wife. Such associations are both significant from family and individual perspectives, but heterogenous from a gender perspective.

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The relationship between financial worries and psychological distress among u.s. adults, data availability statement.

The raw data required to reproduce the findings of this study are available to download from http://www.isss.pku.edu.cn/cfps/download after registration. The processed data required to reproduce the findings of this study are available upon request.

The CFPS data can be obtained from Peking University Open Research Data webpage through registration. https://opendata.pku.edu.cn/ .

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Cai, Y., Li, Q. The Role of Relative Income in Determining Marital Satisfaction for Husband and Wife in China. J Fam Econ Iss 45 , 45–55 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-023-09904-0

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Accepted : 13 April 2023

Published : 10 May 2023

Issue Date : March 2024

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-023-09904-0

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When and how does the number of children affect marital satisfaction? An international survey

Marta kowal.

Institute of Psychology, University of Wrocław, Wrocław, Poland

Agata Groyecka-Bernard

Marta kochan-wójcik, piotr sorokowski, associated data.

The data can be found in a public repository under the link: https://figshare.com/s/172d436cf55e289a85d8 under the name: Marital, Sex, Age, Marriage Duration, Religion, Number of Children, Economic Status, Education, and Collectivistic Values: Data from 33 Countries.

The present global study attempts to verify the links between marital satisfaction and the number of children as well as its moderators in an international sample. Data for the study was obtained from our published dataset and included 7178 married individuals from 33 countries and territories. We found that the number of children was a significant negative predictor of marital satisfaction; also sex, education, and religiosity were interacting with the number of children and marital satisfaction, while there were no interactions with economic status and individual level of individualistic values. The main contribution of the present research is extending our knowledge on the relationship between marital satisfaction and the number of children in several, non-Western countries and territories.

Introduction

Paying attention to the lights and shadows of parenthood, researchers emphasize a multifaceted influence of becoming a parent on well-being [ 1 – 3 ], and more specifically, on marital satisfaction [ 4 – 6 ], especially while the number of children in a family grows [ 7 – 9 ]. When Bowen [ 10 ] introduced the family life theory, he surmised that families are complex units that are closely intertwined, with each member having a large impact on others. Unsurprisingly, with more members (e.g., children) of this unit, maintaining a peaceful and healthy state may become even more challenging [ 11 ].

Several theories that motivate marital satisfaction research provide rationale to the expectation that as the family (i.e., number of children) grows, the relationship between spouses is being challenged. One of the most prominent and highly cited perspectives–social exchange theory–builds on Thibaut and Kelly’s theory of interdependence [ 12 ] and suggests that people involve in a particular relationship when this relationship provides a satisfactory costs-to-benefits ratio [ 13 – 15 ]. As number of offspring raises, parents invest more and more time and efforts to take care of the children. By doing so, remaining resources to being taken care of by their partner may remain scarce. Having more children may be, therefore, seen as a binding factor and a barrier to leave the marriage, what forms a stable–but not necessarily satisfied–dyad [ 16 ].

Not only is raising children time-consuming and tiring, it is also related to a frequent exposure to stressors. Thus, another essential theory on marital satisfaction is the crisis theory [ 17 ], which focuses on crisis management and capitalizes on stressful events, coping resources, definitions of events that modify stressors’ impact, and response to the crisis. With a growing number of children, a number of stressors grows alike. The stressors may outweigh the resources that couple posits at some point. Even if partners are fulfilled as parents, their relational wellbeing may be threatened due to parental distress [ 18 ].

Indeed, some research found a negative relation between these variables: parenthood was associated with decreased marriage quality [ 19 ], increased marital conflict [ 20 ], more severe symptoms of depression [ 21 ], and decreased marital satisfaction [ 22 ]–especially when pregnancy was unplanned [ 5 ]. Other studies suggested a positive or no relation between the number of children and marital satisfaction [ 2 , 4 , 5 , 23 ]. For instance, Yu et al. [ 24 ] analyzed an impressively large dataset of 72,668 adults and found that being a parent was positively linked to increased self-reported well-being. Furthermore, Kohler et al. [ 25 ] provided evidence that a first-born child increases overall happiness both among men and (even more) among women, but subsequent children do not influence happiness ratings, or may even decrease levels of happiness among mothers.

It seemed that the meta-analysis conducted by Twenge and colleagues [ 26 ] could bring final conclusions: the authors suggested that an increased number of children in a family decreases reports of marital satisfaction. But more recent studies again showed different directions of this link, especially in the non-Western countries [ 9 , 27 – 29 ]. The main limitation of the previous studies is that they were conducted almost exclusively in Westernized samples (e.g., [ 26 , 30 ]), and, therefore, results cannot be generalized to other societies. The goal of the present analysis is to determine the relationship between marital satisfaction and the number of children, as well as its moderators (previously reported as relevant).

One of the predictors of marital satisfaction, long since identified in the literature, is sex, with men being typically more satisfied than women [ 31 – 33 ]. Also in the parenting context, the relationship between the transition to parenthood and the decline of marital satisfaction is stronger for women than men [ 6 , 26 , 34 ]. According to equity theory (akin to social exchange theory), participation in inequitable relationship is a predictor of distress [ 35 ]. Both over-benefitted and under-benefitted partners may be dissatisfied in an imbalanced relationship [ 36 ]. At the same time, from the perspective of social role theory, the importance of different expectations to fulfill home-related responsibilities varies across both sexes [ 37 ]. Men are socially expected to provide for their families outside of the home, while women are culturally encouraged to stay within the home realms, fulfilling tasks related to housekeeping and childrearing. Different social roles and norms do not imply that both sexes are equally content with the labor division. In some cases, spouses may experience asymmetry between their commitment and investment in the relationship and rearing children. In fact, Gjerdingen and Chaloner [ 34 ] connected new mothers’ spousal dissatisfaction to insufficient men’s contribution to growing household duties, and Dew and Wilcox [ 6 ] further attributed the effect to reductions in wives’ quality time spent with their husbands after becoming a parent. Taking less care for spousal relationship or having reduced quality time should negatively affect spousal relationship among women more than among men, and that dissatisfaction can increase with commitment and time devoted to subsequent children. In addition, as women who give birth to more children appear less attractive to men than those with lower parity [ 38 ], such negative feelings of being less attractive may further translate into lower marital satisfaction.

Economic factors are additional key variables in predicting marital satisfaction [ 39 – 41 ]. Low-income or material hardship is associated with a serious threat to marital quality and stability [ 42 ]. Many researchers took under consideration the influence of a spouse education level on marital satisfaction [ 43 , 44 ], but we found scarce data and equivocal results regarding links between the education level and a transition to parenthood [ 45 ]. So far, it was shown that highly educated men benefit more from fatherhood in terms of happiness compared to their less educated peers; no such link was found among women [ 46 ]. On the other hand, Nomaguchi and Brown [ 47 ] provided evidence for a different relation: more educated women that had fewer children perceived less benefits from parenting. In this context, education may be considered not only an obligation to invest in one’s own needs, career or childrearing, but also as a supportive resource, which gives tools or opens new possibilities. Moreover, even though previous studies provided evidence that marital satisfaction may not be related to religious affiliation, i.e., that Christians, Muslims, and atheists report the same levels of marital satisfaction [ 48 ], some researchers hypothesized that it may be rather the intensity of religiousness that affects the spouse satisfaction and parenthood [ 6 ].

Importantly, all those variables were investigated almost exclusively in Western countries. Meanwhile, social norms build, inter alia, a wide context of specific rules about family, or parenting and marriage relationship, which are customized to values they promote [ 9 , 28 ]. The criteria for a satisfying marriage may vary and rely on a larger cultural context, for instance, whether the society promotes more collectivistic or individualistic values [ 49 ]. If individuals profess collectivistic norms, they are more concentrated on mutual help, loyalty, and cooperation in intra-group relationships, and because of preferring more group than individual needs, as well as getting help from relatives with children rearing, this way of life might increase their marital satisfaction [ 9 ]. As most Western countries are extremely individualistic, we aimed to re-examine the link between marital satisfaction and the number of children also in non-Western and collectivistic cultures.

Considering the above, we hypothesized that less satisfied with their marriages may be parents with more children and facing more material hardship, mothers, less religious, and those with less individualistic values. We had no prior hypotheses regarding links between the marital satisfaction, children and education. We utilize a large, cross-national dataset in the hope to obtain more generalizable results than previous studies did and provide empirical test to mechanisms suggested by classical theories informing marital satisfaction studies.

The study protocol received ethical approval from the Institutional Ethics Committee at the Institute of Psychology at the University of Wroclaw. All participants gave written informed consent in accordance with the Declaration of Helsinki.

Participants

Data for the study was obtained from the published dataset [ 50 ], which include 7178 married individuals from 33 countries and territories: Brazil, Bulgaria, Canada, China, Croatia, Estonia, Germany, Ghana, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Iran, Italy, Kazakhstan, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Nigeria, Pakistan, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Switzerland, Turkey, United Kingdom, and Uganda. The data was collected in 2012 and 2013 and was part of a broad cross-cultural research project, which investigated, inter alia, romantic relationships [ 48 , 51 – 54 ], behaviors [ 55 ], and their motives [ 56 ] across numerous countries and territories. All samples were convenience samples (e.g., students, acquaintances of the researchers, participants of vocational courses, inhabitants of home towns of the researchers etc.). With an exception of two countries (Switzerland and Bulgaria), all participants completed the paper-and-pencil questionnaires. On average, the participants were 40.7 years old ( SD = 11.5, range = 17–88), had been married for 14.8 years ( SD = 11.6, range = 0.8–70), had 1.7 children ( SD = 1.3, range = 0–12), were moderately religious (median = 4, on a 1–7 point scale, with higher values representing being more religious), were more individualistic (median = 5.5, on a 1–7 point scale, with higher values representing being more individualistic), and reported their economic status as being average compared with others (median = 3, on a 1–5 point scale, with higher values representing being more wealthy than others). More than half participants attained bachelor or master’s degree (52.6%). More detailed description of data collection procedures and descriptive statistics are available in Sorokowski et al. [ 50 ].

From the dataset (which can be found under the link: https://figshare.com/s/172d436cf55e289a85d8 ), we selected and analyzed following variables: marital satisfaction, the number of children, and sociodemographic variables (including sex, religiosity, economic status, education, and level of individualistic values). The data from the Marriage and Relationships Questionnaire (MRQ), developed by Russell and Wells [ 57 ], was adopted as an indicator of the participants marital satisfaction level. The authors of dataset [ 50 ] used the 9-item version of the MRQ (“Love Scale”), psychometrically appropriate for international use [ 58 – 60 ]. Sample questions from this scale included: “ Do you enjoy your husband’s/wife’s company ?"; " Do you enjoy doing things together ?". Participants answered these questions on the five-point scale, which ranged from “ yes (1)” to “ no (5)”; answers were recoded so that higher values indicated higher marital satisfaction.

Religiosity was measured using a single item (“ Are you religious ?”), and responses ranged from 1 ( not at all ) to 7 ( extremely religious ). Economic status was measured by asking participants to rate their material situation on a five-point scale, where (1) meant–“ much better than average in my country” , and (5)–“ much worse than average in my country” . Answers were recoded so that higher value indicated better material situation. Individualism was measured by a scale taken from GLOBE survey [ 61 ], but we included only items regarding familiar individualism (seven-point scale–from 1, “ strongly agree ”, to 7, “ strongly disagree ”). A sample question from this scale included: “ I think children can live at home with their parents until they get married ” or “ I think parents should take pride on the individual accomplishments of their children ”. Higher values indicated higher individualism. For more information see Sorokowski et al. [ 50 ].

Detailed information on the mean number of children across countries is presented in Table 1 . For a graphical representation, see Fig 1 .

In order to assess whether the number of children predicts marital satisfaction, we ran a series of multilevel linear models. All predictors were grand-mean centered. As the first step, we ran a baseline model, ignoring the data hierarchical structure with number of children, sex, age, marriage duration, religiosity, education, material situation and individualism as predictors of marital satisfaction. In the next step (model 2), we clustered data in countries and included random intercept. In the third model, we introduced interaction terms (number of children * religiosity / education / sex / economic status / individual level individualistic values). In the final model, we included random intercept and random slopes, hence, we allowed both intercept and slopes to vary across countries. We compared the models using -2 log likelihood (-2LL) with lower values indicating better models. We estimated effects using a maximum likelihood estimator.

Each subsequent model provided better fit to the data according to -2LL; χ 2 (1) = 774.32, p < 0.001 between the first and the second model, χ 2 (2) = 23.83. p < 0.001 between the second and the third model and χ 2 (5) = 21.98, p < 0.001 between third and fourth model. All steps–accounting for data hierarchical structure, introducing interaction terms and allowing slopes to vary (and covary with intercepts)–changed significance of the parameter estimate for the number of children as a predictor of marital satisfaction. Results of the final model are presented in Table 2 . Intra-class correlation coefficient (ICC) demonstrated that 13% of the variance of marital satisfaction was associated with country level and 87% was assigned to individual level. In the final model, number of children predicted marital satisfaction ( β = -0.030, p = 0.048), but the effect was relatively small. Age negatively predicted marital satisfaction ( β = -0.010, p < 0.001). Sex was also found a significant predictor ( β = -0.010, p < 0.001) with men being more satisfied than women. Remaining predictors: education ( β = 0.057, p < 0.001), religiosity ( β = 0.048, p < 0.001), material situation ( β = 0.152, p < .001) and individualism ( β = 0.064, p < 0.001) were positively related to marital satisfaction. Marriage duration was not a significant predictor ( β = -0.004, p = 0.099). The interactions between the number of children and religiosity ( β = 0.012, p = 0.020) / sex ( β = -0.040, p = 0.019) / education ( β = -0.025, p = 0.004) were found to be significant, unlike interactions between the number of children and material situation and the individual level of individualism ( p = .634 and p = 0.105, respectively).

Significant results are bolded.

Next, in order to break down the interactions, we ran a series of simple slope analyses to examine the relationship between the number of children and marital satisfaction at mean value and +/- 1 SD of moderators, controlling for other variables. The results showed that there was no effect of the low (-1 SD ) level of education on the number of children and marital satisfaction ( β = -0.007, t = -0.401, p = 0.690), yet, there were significant effects of the high and mean levels of education ( β = -0.030, t = -1.974, p = 0.055, β = -0.054, t = -3.012, p = 0.003, respectively). These results suggest that for a group of high and mean education, the higher the number of children, the lower the marital satisfaction ( Fig 2 ).

Breaking down the interaction between the number of children and religiosity revealed that in participants at high (+1 SD ) level of religiosity the number of children did not significantly predict marital satisfaction ( β = -0.010, t = -0.562 p = 0.576), however this relationship was almost significant and negative in participants at mean level of religiosity ( β = -0.030, t = -1.974, p = 0.055), and significant at low (-1 SD ) level of religiosity ( β = -0.051, t = -2.811, p = 0.006) ( Fig 3 ). It implies that among respondents with a low level of religiosity, the higher the number of children, the lower the marital satisfaction. Among women, the relationship between marital satisfaction and number of children was significant and negative ( β = -0.050, t = -2.896, p = 0.005) but it was not significant for men ( β = -0.011, t = -0.594, p = 0.555) ( Fig 4 ).

The results show that the variance of both–slopes and intercepts was significant, indicating that the effect of the number of children on marital satisfaction is unstable across countries. All the analyses were performed in R (version 4.0.3) and in Jamovi (version 1.6.2).

Our findings are in line with other research [ 26 , 28 ], which showed that the number of children can be considered as a global, negative correlate of marital satisfaction. Even though some previous studies found that being a parent (as compared to non-parents) is linked to increased overall well-being [ 1 , 2 ] (and that there are pronounced, cross-cultural differences within this matter, e.g., between American and Chinese adults [ 62 ]), the current analyses seem to refute the notion that such beneficial influence of parenthood extends to marital satisfaction. Moreover, as much greater share of variance can be attributed to individuals than to countries, one can reasonably conclude that marital satisfaction depends more on the individual characteristics than on the values promoted in the country. At the same time, we found that the association between marital satisfaction and the number of children vary substantially across countries, what necessitates further investigations.

Our study provided evidence for the complexity and the influence of other variables on the link between marital satisfaction and the number of children, namely, sex, education, and religiosity. We observed that a higher number of children was associated with decreased marital satisfaction only among women. According to the social role theory [ 37 ], it is women who are culturally pressured to fulfill tasks related to childbearing and housekeeping, while men provide for their families outside of the home. In such a situation, having more children generates more home duties for mothers than fathers [ 6 , 34 ]. At the same time, as caring for children and their safety is a typical female role [ 37 ], men may solely focus on having fun and playing with the offspring [ 2 ], and thus, men may experience less distress and, in turn, more positive emotions regarding their spouse. Considering the imbalance between spouses’ duties related to having more children, results of the present study are in line with the equity theory [ 35 ], which predicts that partners, who invests more in the relationship than their spouses, experience more severe distress.

In addition to the sex differences, our analyses showed the interactive effect of the number of children and the level of parental education on marital satisfaction. Previous findings suggested that higher level of parental education should facilitate family size planning and achieving a balance between familial and personal life goals by both parents [ 63 ]. However, our results advocate for the opposite–we observed that the more education parents receive, the lower levels of marital satisfaction they experienced. When higher educated parents have more children, they may encounter more difficulties in balancing various social roles. This situation may result from the limitations of time and personal resources necessary to reconcile satisfyingly fulfilling parental, partner, and professional roles at the level determined by generally available knowledge [ 64 ].

We hypothesized that material status may be interacting with the number of children and marital satisfaction. Surprisingly, we found no support for this hypothesis. Parents of more children, regardless of their material situation, reported lower levels of marital satisfaction. Two complementary mechanisms may explain these findings. First, according to the restriction of freedom model [ 26 ], parents of high material status may more severely perceive a greater restriction of their free time. Instead of pursuing desirable careers or fulfilling dreams that would otherwise be financially affordable, parents focus on their offspring (who require time and attention). Second, according to the financial cost model [ 26 ], having children entails a myriad of expenses. With more children, it is even more difficult to make ends meet. Also, economic problems may be associated with husbands’ increased hostility and decreased supportiveness, both leading to wives’ perceptions of lower marital quality [ 39 ]. On the other hand, Twenge et al. [ 26 ] showed that when a couple becomes parents, a relationship between the transition to parenthood and the decline of marriage satisfaction may be stronger for individuals of higher socioeconomic status. Thus, we conclude that when the number of children increases, neither good nor bad material situation protects spouses from experiencing decreased levels of marital satisfaction. Similarly, in case of individualism. Previous studies found that parents from Western countries, usually recognized as more individualistically oriented [ 49 ], experience a decrease of marital satisfaction upon birth of their children [ 26 ], and thus, we hypothesized that more level of individualistic values may interact with marital satisfaction and the number of children. However, we found no evidence for the influence of individualism on this relationship.

Analyzing the impact of religiosity on the number of children and marital satisfaction, we observed that religiosity may be a protective buffer against a marital satisfaction decrease in larger families. Many religious communities stress positive marital and family relations [ 65 , 66 ], offer different forms of support to parents [ 67 ], and value parenting likewise bringing up children through religious teachings, ceremonies or accommodations to families with children [ 65 , 68 ]. Furthermore, religious people may not consider maternity in terms of inner conflict between individual aims and parent obligations [ 6 , 69 ]. On the contrary, religiosity may promote traditional roles (i.e., being a parent, a spouse), and thus, positively influence the link between parenthood and marital satisfaction [ 70 – 72 ].

The correlations between the number of children and marital satisfaction differed across countries (see Fig 1 ), being positive in few cases (only among men) and negative in others. However, these correlations were never strong. The plot suggests no emerging patterns that could condition the direction and intensity of these relationships (e.g., a positive relationship in men in Germany, Nigeria, and Mexico). However, a positive effect of individualism on marital satisfaction suggests that it remains dependent on culturally determined issues. Although individualism did not differentiate the relationship of our interest, some country-level or other culturally relevant aspects of spouses’ functioning should be tested in future studies. For example, work culture [ 73 ], country policies [ 74 ] or social equity norms shared within a society [ 36 ] may explain to a higher extent the cultural differences in the role that number of children play in marital satisfaction. Nevertheless, due to the limitations described below we want to stress that the present results should be treated with caution until future cross-cultural studies provide further support.

Strengths and limitations

Results of the present analysis are not free of limitations. Most importantly, the statistical significance of the observed relationship between marital satisfaction and the number of children was very close to the conventional threshold of 0.05. We cannot exclude the scenario in which the significance of this predictor might have been a result of a large sample size, what required caution in drawing any general conclusions. Furthermore, the data samples are not fully representative for the whole world’s population, as the majority of participants inhabited more urbanized regions. We were also unable to analyze interdependent marriage dyads or non-married, cohabitating couples. Moreover, religiosity appeared to be a moderator of the link between the number of children and marital satisfaction, but, unfortunately, it was assessed only by a single question in the survey (“ Are you religious ?”), which makes further interpretations difficult. The partial, declarative knowledge of participants economic status also limits our conclusions. It would be insightful if future studies focused on the age of the children, as it may also affect the relationship between the family size and marital satisfaction. Finally, our study did not focus on very complex relationships between our variables of interest (i.e., three-way-interactions). We suggest that building upon sound theoretical backgrounds, future studies could form more detailed hypotheses on the interplay between several predictors of marital satisfaction and their temporal dynamics.

On the other hand, in the present analysis we used a large-scale sample database from different regions of the world. All participants answered the same questionnaires, which tried to capture numerous important variables, previously shown to correlate with marital satisfaction. The data was collected in the same period of time and originated in different regions of the world. The main contribution of the present research is extending our knowledge on the relationship between marital satisfaction and the number of children and variables that are frequently hypothesized to influence this relationship (i.e., sex, religiosity, age, education, level of individualism, material situation, and marriage duration) in several, non-Western countries and territories. Such insight may be especially important when considering the importance of marital satisfaction on health and well-being both of spouses [ 75 ] and their children [ 76 ].

Supporting information

Funding statement.

AG-B was supported by Wincenty Styś's scholarship funded by Wroclaw municipality for the academic year 2020/21.

Data Availability