Marital Satisfaction and General Happiness among urban Malays in Klang Valley

Abstract

Marital satisfaction is a mental state that induces a married individual to feel happy regarding in his or her married life. Therefore, this study was conducted to identify the background factors of married urban Malays and to determine the relationship between marital satisfaction and general happiness among urban married Malay individuals. This study employs an exploratory design using survey method in the form of questionnaire. Each questionnaire contains a set of questions and measurement tools to gather background information, the level of marital satisfaction and general happiness of the respondents. A total of 421 respondents who were Malays and have been married for at least a year, and resided in the Klang Valley area participated voluntarily in this study. In general, this study found that there were positive and significant relationships between general happiness and factors namely marital satisfaction (k <0.01, r = 0.466**), age (k <0.01, r = 0.148**), individual monthly income (k <0.05 , r = 0.118*), family income (k <0.05, r = 0.113*), length of marriage (k<0.05, r = 0.114*) and age of the eldest child (k <0.01, r = 0.137*). The outcome of this study suggests the importance of marital satisfaction in elevating the general happiness of married individuals. Besides that, religious beliefs and values were also found important in achieving marital satisfaction. Suggestions for future researchers and members of the helping profession like counselors, therapists and social workers working with married couples who specifically adhere to certain values and cultures were also discussed.