Husband's Marital Satisfaction: Does Education Matter?

Nurhayana Thoybah, Mario Pratama and

Tesi Hermaleni

Faculty of Psychology and Health, Universitas Negeri Padang. Jl. Prof. Dr. Hamka, Air Tawar, Padang, West Sumatera.

Indonesia

Keywords: Marital Satisfaction, Husband’s Education Level, Wife’s Education Level.

Abstract: This study was a comparative quantitative study. This study aimed to determine the husband's marital

satisfaction with a working wife based on the husband's education and the wife's education. The study

involved 48 husbands who had an active wives as respondents at several tribes and regions in Indonesia. The

sampling technique used random sampling. Data collection used a marriage satisfaction scale from

Hermaleni's (2018). Data were analyzed using two-way ANOVA analysis techniques. The results showed

significant differences in the husband's marital satisfaction based on the husband's education and wife's

education (F = 2.808, p = 0.028, p <0.05). The husband's education level contributes more to marital

satisfaction than the wife's.

1 INTRODUCTION

Marriage is a social institution consisting of two

people committed to social and sexual relations that

are legalized and legally recognized (APA dictionary

of psychology, 2007). One of the main things

interested in marriage is happiness and marital

satisfaction. Marriage satisfaction is a person's

perception of the level of need in the marriage

relationship he lives in (Giblin, 1994). Marriage

satisfaction is a mental condition that reflects the

benefits and costs that a person feels in his marriage

(Lenthall, 1977). Many things contribute to achieving

marital satisfaction (Angeles, 2000). One is the level

of one's education while undergoing marriage.

Education level refers to the highest level of school

completed by someone. Education can be formal and

informal. According to UU No. 20 Tahun 2003,

formal education is a type of education obtained

informal environments such as schools, while

informal education refers to education received in

informal settings such as homes (Indonesia, 2003).

Couples with equal levels of education have a

lower tendency to divorce than couples whose

husbands have higher education than their wives.

Cruz, Abalos, & Cruz (2013) argue that differences in

education level are not too significantly affect marital

satisfaction. But Schwartz & Han's (2014) research

found that for decades, wives who had higher

education from their husbands faced a higher risk of

divorce than husbands who had higher education.

Differences in the level of education at marriage

are common in Indonesia. In Indonesia, most

weddings have a situation where the husband's

education is higher than the wife's, still taboo when

the husband's education is lower than the wife's. But

in the last five years, the level of education of

Indonesian women has increased (Rochmi, 2016). It

shows many types of husband and wife education

levels in marriage in Indonesia. It could be a higher

education husband of a wife, husband educational

level equivalent to the wife or husband of education

even lower than the wife.

Vaijayanthimala, Kumari, & Panda (2004) found

that heterogamy (i.e., differences in the level of

socioeconomic status of married couples, including

education) creates a difference in one's marital

satisfaction. Sprecher & Schwartz (1994) also found

that differences or inequalities in relationships relate

to a lack of commitment to the relationship, decreased

happiness and dissatisfaction with the relationship, or

even the breakup of a relationship. While the

similarity in educational status in a marriage will

make a husband and wife have higher marital

satisfaction (Tzeng, 1992). But in Indonesia, there is

not yet specific studies that examine the level of

marital satisfaction in terms of education for husband.

Thoybah, N., Pratama, M. and Hermaleni, T.

Husband’s Marital Satisfaction: Does Education Matter?.

DOI: 10.5220/0011095700003368

In Proceedings of the International Conference of Mental Health (Icometh 2021), pages 77-82

ISBN: 978-989-758-586-9

Based on the phenomenon described above,

researchers are interested in knowing how husbands

marital satisfaction in terms of education level.

2 METHOD

This was a comparative quantitative study. The

subjects in this study were 48 people. The measuring

instrument used was the Marriage Satisfaction Scale,

amounting to 43 items. The validity used in this study

is the content validity and construct validity. Based

on the analysis of product moments on the scale of

marriage satisfaction where there are 43 items tested

to 105 people with all items valid (r ≥0.3). The scale

of marriage satisfaction measurement used is the

scale of marriage satisfaction developed in

Hermaleni's research (2018) with a range of r values

from 0.263 to 0.832 with reliability of 0.946. The

reliability score shows that both measuring

instruments have good reliability Data analysis was

performed using the Two Way Anova analysis

technique. Two Way Anova analysis is an analysis

that examines the differences of two independent

variables of a nominal data type with one dependent

variable that is of interval data type. The independent

variables in this study are husband education and wife

education, while the dependent variable is marriage

satisfaction.

3 RESULT AND DISCUSSION

Based on the research that has been done, it is

obtained the results of the Levene test with a value of

F = 1.143 (p = 0.353, p> 0.05). So the assumption of

homogeneity of marital satisfaction is fulfilled. Then

the data analysis is done by two-way ANOVA

analysis. The results can be seen in the following

table:on the research that has been done, it is obtained

the results of the levene test with a value of F = 1.143

(p = 0.353, p> 0.05). So the assumption of

homogeneity of marital satisfaction is fulfilled.

Table 1: Two Way Anova Test Results.

Source Type III Sum

of Squares

df Mean

Square

F Sig.

Corrected Model 4080.620a 5 816.124 2.808 .028

Intercept 724574.673 1 724574.67

2492.946 .000

Husband's

Education

3146.736 2 1573.368 5.413 .008

Wife Education 14.254 1 14.254 .049 .826

Husband

Education * Wife

Education

626.375 2 313.187 1.078 .350

Error 12207.297 42 290.650

Total 1147890.000 48

Corrected Total 16287.917 47

a. R Squared = .251 (Ad

usted R Squared = .161)

Based on the table 1, we know that there is a

significant difference in the husband's marital

satisfaction based on the husband's education with an

F value of 5,413 and p = 0,000 (p <0.01). Whereas

when viewed based on wife's education, it is known

that there is no significant difference in husband's

marriage satisfaction reviewed based on wife's

education with an F value of 0.49 and p = 0.826 (p>

0.05). Then seen from the interaction of husband and

wife's education on marriage satisfaction, it is known

that there is no significant interaction with the value

of F = 1.078 (p = 0.350, p> 0) between husband's

education and wife's education on marriage

satisfaction, so it can be said that husband's education

has more role to the satisfaction of his marriage

compared to his wife's level of education. More

clearly, the interaction between husband's education

and wife's education on husband's marriage

satisfaction can be seen in the following plot:

Icometh 2021 - International Conference of Mental Health

Figure 1: Estimated Marginal Mean Satisfaction of Husband and Wife Marriage.

Furthermore, the comparison of husband's marital

satisfaction based on his education level can be seen

in the following table:

Table 2: Comparison of Husband Marriage Satisfaction Based on Education Level.

(I) husband’s

education

(J) husband’s

education

Mean

Difference (I-J)

Std.

Error

. 95% Confidence Interval

Lower Bound Upper Bound

SMA s1 -20.0714

7.39816 .026 -38.0452 -2.0976

s2 -25.0451

7.53782 .005 -43.3582 -6.7320

s1 SMA 20.0714

7.39816 .026 2.0976 38.0452

s2 -4.9737 5.33936 .624 -17.9456 7.9982

s2 SMA 25.0451

7.53782 .005 6.7320 43.3582

s1 4.9737 5.33936 .624 -7.9982 17.9456

Based on observed means.

The error term is Mean Square(Error) = 290.650.

*. The mean difference is si

nificant at the .05 level.

Based on the table, we know a significant

difference (p = 0.026, p <0.05) in a husband's

marriage satisfaction with a high school education

level with an undergraduate education level. Then it

was also found that there was a significant difference

(p = 0.005, p <0.01) in the satisfaction of husband's

marriage with the education level of high school with

S2. Finally, there was no difference in the husband's

marriage satisfaction compared to the education level

of S1 and S2 (p = 0.625, p> 0.05).

Comparison of the average value of husband's

marital satisfaction based on the level of education of

husband and wife can be seen in the following table:

Husband’s Marital Satisfaction: Does Education Matter?

Table 3: Comparison of Husband’s Marriage Satisfaction Mean Based on Husband and Wife Education Level.

Husband Education Wife Education Mean Std. Deviation N

SMA

s1 137.0000 19.96246 5

s2 128.0000 33.94113 2

Total 134.4286 21.83924 7

s1 154.2308 10.82554 13

s2 154.8889 19.10788 9

Total 154.5000 14.35851 22

s1 153.0000 18.29617 9

s2 165.3000 16.51969 10

Total 159.4737 18.02889 19

Total

s1 150.6296 16.20339 27

s2 157.2857 21.14035 21

Total 153.5417 18.61589 48

4 CONCLUSIONS

Education contributes to the husband's marriage

satisfaction compared with her education level. Based

on the analysis, w know that there are significant

differences in marital satisfaction husband visits by

educational status. Then there is no significant

difference in the husband's marital satisfaction based

on his wife's education level.

The study found significant differences in the

husband's marital satisfaction if the level sees

education. The results are consistent with the research

results conducted by (Karney, Bradbury, & Karney,

B. R., & Bradbury, 1995). Yang found that

satisfaction and stability in marriage positively

correlate with positive behavior, education, and work.

In line with that research, Nwafor (2009) find

husbands and wives who have an equal level of

education have higher marriage satisfaction than

married couples who have differences in education

levels. Barongo, Onderi, Kebati, Okwara, and

Edward Bantu (2014) also found that marital

satisfaction is more significant if the husband has a

higher level of education than his wife. The story of

education contributes to the husband's marital

satisfaction because the higher the level of his

teaching, the wider the way he will look at things.

Married life is full of conflicts and problems;

therefore, an open-minded ability is needed to handle

any dispute well. If wars in the household can be

adequately overcome, satisfaction in the home can

increase.

This study also found no significant difference in

a husband's marital satisfaction based on his wife's

education level. The results of this study are in line

with the results of research conducted by Becker,

Landes, and Michael (1977) that a couple's education

level has an unclear or still ambiguous effect on

marital satisfaction. This is in line with Alder's (2010)

study which showed that there was no statistically

significant relationship between education level and

marital satisfaction. Because the level of education is

broken down into the level of education at the time of

marriage and the level of education after marriage.

Education level does not correlate with marital

satisfaction (Barongo, Okwara, Aloka, & Masoka,

2015).

The wife education level does not play a role in

the marriage satisfaction of the husband because the

marriage satisfaction of the husband is more

influenced by the physical attractiveness of the wife,

while for the wife, the marriage satisfaction is more

influenced by the education and income of the

husband than the physical attraction (French and

Meltzer, 2019).

These results are not by research conducted by

Boertien and Härkönen (2012), who found that high

education affects the satisfaction of a husband's

marriage because the lower the level of education, the

risk of divorce will be higher. In subsequent studies,

Boertien and Härkönen (2018) found that taller

education women will have higher marital stability

and lower divorce potential. This is because women's

education levels can improve their social skills

(Oreopoulos and Salvanes, 2011) and play an

important role in adjusting to a partner.

Icometh 2021 - International Conference of Mental Health

This study found that the husband's education had

more to do with the satisfaction of his marriage than

his wife's education level. Husband education level

has a more important role because a higher educated

husband can provide more economic security for his

family, he also has a more egalitarian gender

perception (Bonke and Esping-Andersen 2011). He

can give non-economic benefits that can improve

marriage quality (Becker, Landes, and Michael

1977). The results of this study are consistent with

research conducted by Tucker and O'Grady (2001),

who found that a husband's education has a positive

relationship with his marriage satisfaction. The higher

the husband's education, the higher his marriage

satisfaction. But if the partner has a higher level of

education, then he tends to be less satisfied with his

marriage (Tucker and O'Grady, 2001). This is

because the level of education of the wife can increase

the level of wages and income, which makes women

feel more economically independent (than men).

When they think incompatible with their husbands,

they will more easily decide to divorce, making the

husband fee levels insecure and unsatisfied in his

marriage. These results are consistent with the

findings of previous researchers who showed that

higher levels of education were positively correlated

with marital instability and problems in sexual

adjustment in married life (Cherlin, 1979; Jose &

Alfons, 2007; Kalmijn, 1999 ).

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

In this study we were greatly assisted by Ms. Tesi

Hermaleni, S. Psi.., M. Psi., Psy. Therefore we would

like to express our deep gratitude to her. Also, we

want to thank all the participants and subjects

involved in this study and the people behind the

preparation of this study.

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