Understanding Marriage: A Hong Kong Case Study

Contents

Contents Preface Acknowledgments Prologue: Mr and Mrs Lee Introduction PART I: THE HONG KONG MARITAL STUDY 1 Studying Marriages in Hong Kong The Assessment and Evaluation of Marriage Self Report Measures The Choice of Self Report Measures for the Hong Kong Marital Study The Measuring Instruments Assessment Measures for Understanding Marriage 2 The Hong Kong Marital Study Deriving Assessment Measures for Hong Kong Determining Criterion Groups The Adjusting Process The Multiple Facets of Living Relationship Outcomes Assessment Measures for Hong Kong 3 The Couple's Descriptions of Their Relationship The Structured Interviews IX Xl 1 5 11 13 14 15 17 17 26 29 29 32 33 36 38 41 45 46 vi Contents The Couple's Reports on Shared Living 47 Life Circumstances External to the Marriage 50 Problems of Living and Stressful Events 51 The Couple's Review of Satisfactions and Frustrations 53 Negotiating 'Fit' and Struggling With Differences 54 Supplementing Clinical Interviews With Self Report Measures 56 PART 11: VARIATIONS IN MARRIAGE 59 4 Classification of Types of Marriage 61 Types of Marriage According to the Circumplex Model 61 Types of Marriages Through Cluster Analysis 62 Cluster Analysis - ENRICH Scales 62 Profiles of Eight Types of Marriage 67 Analysis of Types of Marriages in the Hong Kong Sample 81 Comparison Between a Hong Kong and an American Sample 81 Issues Related to Classification 82 5 Variations in the Marital Experience According to the Life Cycle 85 Life Cycle Variations 86 The W Pattern 87 The Impact of Children Fluctuating and Steady Trends Declining Trends Impact of Children and Later Life Trends 6 Variations in the Marital Experience According to Gender and 89 91 93 96 Generational Issues 99 Gender Differences in the Marital Experience 99 His and Her Marriages 101 Differences in the Effects of Inter-generational Transmission 103 Early Life Experiences and Adult Development 105 Inter-generational Relations With Extended Families 108 The Bidirectional Exchange of Mfection, Gifts and Services 112 The Interface Between the Areas of Differences 114 PART Ill: MARITAL INTERDEPENDENCE 117 7 The Transition From Traditional to Companionship Marriages 119 Trends Towards Conjugalism 120 Valuing the Conjugal Relationship 123 Emerging Emphasis on Companionship 124 Contents Evolving Social Norms - Companionship and Familism Evolving Social Skills - for Companionship Marriages The Transition Towards Modern Marriages Marriage and General Wellbeing vii 126 127 129 131 8 Interdependence in Marital Relationships 133 The Development and Maintenance of the Marital Relationship 134 Marital Boundaries 134 The Interdependence of the Marital Pair 137 The Interdependence Framework in Application 141 Commitment, Equity and Exchange Orientations 142 Hypotheses of the Hong Kong Marital Study 144 A Marital Relationship Index for Application in Hong Kong 145 9 Tuning Into Spousal Negotiations 147 Transactions in Close Relationships 148 Negotiating From a Cooperative or a Competitive Stance 149 Tuning Into Spousal Negotiations 153 Understanding Events in a Relational C0Il:text 156 Understanding Spousal Interdependence 159 APPENDICES 161 Appendix 1 The Measuring Instruments 163 The Dyadic Adjustment Scale 164 The Enrich Marital Inventory 167 The Marital Comparision Level Index (MCLI) Package 170 Appendix 2 Determining Criterion Groups 174 The Reliability and Validity of the DAS 175 The Reliability and Validity of ENRICH 178 The Reliability and Validity of the MCLI Package of Scales 181 Appendix 3 Statistical Tests Applied in the Study 184 Appendix 4 The Marital Relationship Index - MRI 186 Bibliography 191 Author Index 201 Subject Index 205 ...