Numerous studies have been conducted on the impact of educational levels on marital satisfaction. Most of the studies have talked about couple relationship regarding their length of stay together or even age of the couples (Alder, 2010). This paper is built on the idea that educational level affects marital satisfaction. Therefore using s theoretical framework, it shall establish the effects of instruction empirically.
This paper aims to analyze the common notion that highly educated people cannot marry a less educated person because they may not have the same thoughts. It is true that people go to an equally educated person as their partners since they would have the same experiences, which they would enjoy during their marriage. Studies have been done which are in support of the fact that equally educated persons usually have similar experiences in terms of their professional duties, for they might share their career experiences with each other, spending leisure times together. According to Tampieri (2010) Higher Education Effects in Job and Marital Satisfaction , it is evident that marital satisfaction depends mostly on the educational levels of their partner. Furthermore, the researcher interviewed both male and female identifying their preferences about education and type of marriage partner. According to the study , most interviewees preferred an educated person to be their partner given that their level of education would enable them to secure a good job that would make them have a satisfying life together. The study of marital satisfaction among couples is incomplete without studying their educational levels a factor that significantly contributes to the stability of the marriage. An analysis on the impact of education on the marital satisfaction has revealed that couples who have achieved higher educational level experience satisfactory marital lives. Tampieri (2010) studied the relationship between higher education on job satisfaction and marital satisfaction. From the study, it is evident that many couples base their relationship on the potential factors of their partners to be able to secure jobs and live a healthy life. In this way, it has caused many people to seek opportunities to further their studies in order to live a comfortable life and get a partner that would be on the same level of education as they are.
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In 2013, Mihalcea, Iliescu & Dincă studied “the Influence of the Educational Level on Couple Relationships.” The study examined the factors that contributed to satisfying marital life among the highly educated couples. Evidently, educated couple seem to have a consensus in their marital life and understand each other's needs and desires in marriage. It is notable that such couples specify their times for various activities that they will do together, such as going to church, spending leisure time and even visiting friends together. The study also determined that the most educated couples behave in a mature way to their partner. They share their issues and show each other love that couples ought to, always do. In this way, the marital life of the educated, poses a more substantial effect on the lives of the married couples. Gorchoff, John, & Helson (2008) studied the relationship between marital satisfaction, age at marriage, and marital role performance. According to the study, the role performance among the studied group of people was determined by a survey conducted on 394 couples. The couples studied included individuals who had recently married and were in their early stage of marriage. It is however noted that the survey covered young people below 35 years old. Age as a factor that was researched on the study, was found to have a correlation with the marital satisfaction at the time of marriage. Moreover, it was also determined that after a lengthy stay between couples, an age which is the factor causing joy in the couple's life originated from an educational background, socioeconomic background, and religious importance. The study determined that couples who married at an older age were likely to be more satisfied than younger couples. However, the study, which had hypothesized that marriage satisfaction among young couples, may lead to earlier awareness level and may lead to divorce which if it happens; the partners would be more cognizant to face challenges. It would be hard for such partners to tolerate dissatisfaction in marriage in case they would remarry.
Mirecki, Chou, Elliott & Schneider (2013) also studied on the factors that contribute to a marital satisfaction among couples married on either the first marriages or the second marriages. The study examined the present differences between the marriage types. On the first group of marriage, it consisted of couples married for the first time; it was found that they had a high level of satisfaction than remarried couples. However, under the regression analysis, it was determined that the second level of marriage had greater satisfaction as compared to the first type. As education, level increased, the level of satisfaction also increased accordingly. On the other hand, the length of marriage was found to influence satisfaction in the first marriage to a significant level. However, this did not happen with the second type of marriage. Therefore, further studies have to be conducted to determine the cause of the difference in the satisfaction between the first and second marriages about marriage length. A review by Emily Alder (2010) on Tucker and O’Grady (2001) discussed on the intelligence, which was measured by educational attainment level trying to investigate the factors that contribute to marital satisfaction. The study examined attractiveness, the standard of education, and age at marriage as factors that contribute to the marital satisfaction. the study examined that the educational aspect within the couple’s marriage to determine that it is very relevant to the satisfaction of their marital life. Furthermore, it also supported the notion that has been backed by other researchers that age of an individual is correlated with the educational level of the person. The correlation thus significantly hints on the satisfaction in the couple’s lives as they continue growing. Alder (2010), also posits that since the age factor of an individual is correlated to the educational level, then it would be right to conclude that the school standard of the person would have a positive correlation in the couple’s lives. Stanley, Amato, Johnson & Markman (2006) posits that the marriage stability is based on the continuous education of an individual, which starts at an early stage. The study further supports the fact that proper premarital education has a significant effect on the stability of marriage and hence more satisfying to both couples concerned. In the same way, other researchers have lauded the influence of education on the stability and satisfaction in a marital life; this study determines the same.
Hypothesis
There is a significant effect of educational level on marital satisfaction.
Methods
Participants and Procedure
The research participants in the study included seven hundred and twenty nine (729) men and women aged between 24years and 50 year. One hundred and five (105) of the study samples were college graduates, two hundred and seventy two bachelor’s degree graduates while three hundred and fifty two (352) were master degree graduates.
This study has been granted permission following the proposal submitted to the university that was analyzed based on the specific requirements for conducting research. According to this study, the targeted participants are the educated and married couples. The study aims to identify the lifestyles of these couples and their concerns about the level of understanding that is exhibited among them. The age bracket for the study of the groups is insignificant, as it is known that highly educated couples are people of mature age. These people tend to wait for long before they commence reproduction since they are so concerned with their career activities that they put aside issues of marriage. Some educated couples who are married may not have their kids immediately after they get married since most of them agree to live without having children at an early age. Therefore, it is critical to study about these couples lifestyles. The study sampled 729 participants in the study concerning the marital needs for couples. The study utilizes questionnaires to get responses from the targeted population. The target people filled in the questionnaires and submitted them back for analysis. Additionally, the study carried out its survey on the internet platforms by issuing online questionnaires that were filled and presented for compiling.
Materials
The study made use of online resources materials belonging to different researches that have been done to conduct its study. Data from previous research work enabled the study to be conducted in a consistent way following what has already been done by other studies. The materials utilized were supplied to more than twenty participants who were within the area of study. The materials were checked and ascertained for quality on how their interpretation would be made. Vague questions were removed from the questionnaires to make it very clear for the respondents to understand the message from the researcher to give relevant information.
Research instruments
The research scale that was used in the study is the Kansas Marital Conflict Scale (KMCS) that was developed by Eggerman, Moxley and Schumm (1985). This is a 22-item measure that focuses on married couples’ scale of satisfaction from 1-7.
Statistical analysis
Analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the hypothesis. The hypothesis tested was that satisfaction increases with age of the couple.
Results
|
SUMMARY |
Count |
Sum |
Average |
Variance |
| Row 1 |
3 |
146 |
48.66667 |
524.3333 |
| Row 2 |
3 |
162 |
54 |
1089 |
| Row 3 |
3 |
120 |
40 |
175 |
| Row 4 |
3 |
136 |
45.33333 |
462.3333 |
| Row 5 |
3 |
165 |
55 |
1477 |
| College |
5 |
105 |
21 |
27.5 |
| Bachelors |
5 |
272 |
54.4 |
67.3 |
| Masters |
5 |
352 |
70.4 |
296.8 |
Table 2: 2 x 2 ANOVA summary tables showing the effect of educational status on marital satisfaction.
| ANOVA | ||||||
Source of Variation |
SS |
df |
MS |
F |
P-value |
F crit |
| Rows |
464.2667 |
4 |
116.0667 |
0.842487 |
0.53566 |
3.837853 |
| Columns |
6353.2 |
2 |
3176.6 |
23.05783 |
0.000478 |
4.45897 |
| Error |
1102.133 |
8 |
137.7667 |
|||
| Total |
7919.6 |
14 |
From the table above the data indicates that education level have an impact on the marital satisfaction, F=.0.8, p= 0.5. . The data further indicates that marital satisfaction increased in a progressive way as the couples aged, F=0.8 < F crit=3.8.
Discussion
From the results of the study above, all respondents had a higher educational attainment at the time of the study with a majority having graduated with Bachelor’s degree while some are still doing their master’s course. This sample is inconsistent with the national average marriage age, which is slightly lower in other communities that allow marriages earlier and the poor people who put less consideration to education before they get married. The study also coincides with the study by Stanley, Amato, Johnson & Markman (2006) which stated that marital satisfaction is directly proportional to the educational level.
From the literature study above, it is evident that educational level and the marital satisfaction have a lot of correlation. Most married couples interviewed had higher educational levels and displayed a significant effect on educational attainment in marriage. Women had tertiary degree of education with the least having a college diploma. Men, on the other hand, had the highest degree of Ph.D. while the lowest had a bachelor’s degree. The educational attainment among all these members studied has displayed a significant correlation of the survey question.
“Partners with a similar educational background do not have a satisfying marital life” has been rubbished by research. It is posited that the claim was only an opinion from an outside source since statistical research has proved it wrong. However, the study confirms that couples with meaningful education experience the best satisfaction among themselves since there is an understanding between them.
It is clear that there is a relationship between educational level and marital satisfaction. A proper knowledge on the effect of educational level on the marital satisfaction among couples needs a further research. It is clear that a study has to be done on the topic concerning the various factors that make people prefer educated as their marriage partners. The study should include the specific preferences on the partners concerning the education, their career path and gender of the individual.
References
Tampieri, A. (2010). Sex and the Uni: Higher Education Effects in Job and Marital Satisfaction (No. 10/07).
Mihalcea, A., Iliescu, D., & Dincă, M. (2013). The Influence of the Educational Level on Couple Relationships. Procedia-Social and Behavioral Sciences , 78 , 41-45.
Gorchoff, S. M., John, O. P., & Helson, R. (2008). Contextualizing change in marital satisfaction during middle age an 18-year longitudinal study. Psychological Science , 19 (11), 1194-1200.
Mirecki, R. M., Chou, J. L., Elliott, M., & Schneider, C. M. (2013). What factors influence marital satisfaction? Differences between first and second marriages. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage , 54 (1), 78-93.
Alder, E. S. (2010). Age, education level, and length of courtship in relation to marital satisfaction.
Stanley, S. M., Amato, P. R., Johnson, C. A., & Markman, H. J. (2006). Premarital education, marital quality, and marital stability: findings from a large, random household survey. Journal of Family Psychology , 20 (1), 117.
