Marital Quality and Global Well-Being Among Older Adult Israeli Couples in Enduring Marriages

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between marital quality and global well-being among husbands and wives in enduring marriages in Israel. Fifty-one couples married for at least 40 years answered both itemized questions about the components of their marriage and global questions about their marital satisfaction. The findings indicate that, while the husbands' marital satisfaction was dependant largely on the content of the marital relationship and not related to their general well-being, the wives' marital satisfaction was affected by both the content of their marriage and their global well-being and, moreover, contributed to their well-being. These findings are consistent with Bernard's (1972) contention that marital quality is more important to wives' mental health than to husbands'. Like other findings on the relationship between marital quality and global well-being, however, these findings are cohort-specific, since the relationship depends on the context in which the marriage takes place.