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DISSERTATION

DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

“A COMPARATIVE STUDY TO ASSESS THE PSYCHOLOGICAL

ADJUSTMENTS IN MARRIED LIFE AMONG WORKING AND NON

WORKING WIVES IN A SELECTED AREA IN MANDYA”

SUBMITTED BY

Mrs.PONNI TT

FIRST YEAR MSc. NURSING STUDENT

PSYCHIATRIC NURSING

NEW NAVODAYA INSTITUTE OF NURSING

MANDYA

(2012-2013)

RAJIV GANDHI UNIVERSITY OF HEALTH SCIENCES,BANGALORE,KARNATAKA

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DISSERTATION

6.INTRODUCTION

“ It is not a lack of love,but a lack of friendship that mkes unhappy marriages”

-Friedrich Nietzche

Marriage is an important universal institution.It is changing in its form according to the change in its culture.It is an institution which permits or admits man and women for family life.Itis more or less durable condition between male and female,beyond the mere act of propagation. There has been mutual attraction due to certain biological and psychological causes resulting in the establishment of intimate relationship.1

Marriage imposes certain rights on and duties on both husband and wife.Both are required

to support each other and their children.A union of man and women becomes a marital bond

when the society gives its approval.It becomes a legal contract2.Partners of marriage distribute

and divide work among them and perform them.Marriage helps intellectual co-operation among

both of them.Marriage develops intense love and affection towards each other and deepens,

emotions strengthens the companionship between the two people who love each other, make

their relationship public, officiallyand permanent.3

Marital adjustment leads to happiness and satisfaction with their marriage and with each

other.Each individual is a complex universe. So in marriage these complex universe comes

together and these may lead to different problems.Only matured couples adjust together.If there

is no adjustment, the relations will not become last longer.There is many areas of adjustment

like economy,parenthood,household work,sex,entertainment,social life etc.4

Over the past half century the proportion of working wife families has increased by leaps

and bounds.Whereas in 1910, only one out of five wives worked, today the proportion is close to

three out of five (Ferris, 1971). The consequences for family behavior and life-style patterns

once the wife's main working hours are removed from the home are overwhelming in magnitude

As the Presidential Commission on Manpower in 1972 suggested, "perhaps no other single

change in family life has affected so many families in as relatively short a time as has the

movement of married woman into the labor force" 5

Perhaps half of the adults suffering from severe stress blame the deteriorating relationships on

their spouse. Looking at the growing rate of divorces, court cases for alimony, physical abuses

and single parents; it does seem as if handling a relationship can be a tricky and often taxing

issue. The possible causes can be endless. More often than not, stress arising from marital

relationships is manifested in chronic disorders such as depression, insomnia and hypertension.

Since a relationship depends on the nature of the persons involved, it helps to seek the middle

path when the inherent individual differences surface.It often helps to change one's attitude, go

for counseling or talk openly with your spouse about problems facing your relationship.6

6.1Need for the Study

Adjustment discloses are very common among people. ‘Marriage’ is an important social

institution. Marital adjustment as the state in which there is an overall feeling in husband & wife

if happiness and satisfaction with their marriage of with each other. Despite of thousands of

couples with problems, where the causes resolutions are clear, the adjustments disorders among

couples are still continuing.

Marital problems are common among couples and there is no matter whether they are

Working and non working. Today women have a multiple of opportunities and choices. Yet

many women feel overworked at overwrought. Many women feel confused converting what

direction their lives should take at what their priorities should be.Many women lied pressured by

outside sources dying for their attention.A women is too important to her husband and her role is

too vital in the home. There are many lessons for thinking that the regret of working wife

families is unwarranted.In the first place timeconstraints on the performance of household duties

such as shopping, cooking, cleaning and in a particular on the time at which there tasks are

performed in working wife families, suggest that different strategies are likely to be developed to

cope with their problems.

There is a list of six areas of marital adjustment, which is defined by the psychologist, such

as, religion, social life, mutual friends, in laws, money and sex7. Another psychologist defines

ten areas of marital adjustment, i.e. values, couple growth, communication, conflict resolution,

affection, roles, cooperation, sex, money and parenthood8. A study on marriage and marital

adjustment in USA presentssocial activities and recreation, training and disciplining of children,

religion, in law relationship, financial matters, sexual relationship, communication, mutual

trust and companionship as the areas ofmarital adjustment9.

Many researchers haveconducted the negative effects of economic hardship on marital

quality and stability.Economic strain is directly linked to couple’s happiness, significantly

contributed to lower reported marital satisfaction among married couples.The financial issues

are a frequent trigger point for conflict among the couples led to more frequent fights and

decrease marital harmony.(Gudmunson,Et al 2007). In a recent Mori survey,35 percent of

women and 26percent of men agreed that the economic downturn had reduced the quality of

their marriage.Another study supported the relationship between finances and marital

satisfaction by identifying that 15 percent of marital satisfaction was predicted by financial

factors.10

The destructive effect of alcoholism is also an important factor which need great adjustment.

For Example, Leonard and Roberts found that both husbands and wives drinking were

Predictive of lower marital quality and increased marital instability. Also Chilcoat and

Breslau(1906) fond that presence of an alcohol use disorder predicted subsequent divorce in a

sample of young adult. The marital interactions of alcoholic couples are as negative as

interactions in distressed married couple, which differ from the interaction of happy,non

distressed married couples .11

Studies show that physical disabilities and chronic diseases can impact one’s sexual

functioning in different aspects.They can also affect marital relationship and satisfaction from

a sexual partner.Erectile dysfunction is common among men with respiratory disfunction and

hypoxia.The wives were significantly less satisfied with the relationship than the patients, which

were related to communication problem. A factor which influences the perception of such

problems in a very important way is the degree of affection in the relationship between the

couples.The study’s show that marital adjustment is associated with both psychological well

being and physical functioning.12

Infertility is known to cause an impact of the mental health of the infertile couple,causing

anxiety, depression, social isolation and sexual dysfunction. The triad of the condition,its

investigation treatment ,the stigma associated with male and female infertility in traditional

societal interaction cause a high level of psychological distresswith a direct impact on the

couples marital and sexual relations.13 Women in infertile couples reported poor marital

adjustment and quality of life compared with controls.Men may experience less intercourse

satisfaction, perhaps because of the psychological pressure try to conceive or because of the

forced timing of intercourse around the women’s ovulatory cycle.14

Statistically married women have elevated rates of depression as opposed to unmarried

ones, and this is an issue that most marriages will be faced during their life together. This is

caused by marital stress and conflicts in relationship and roles. Symptoms of depression are

insomnia, hypertension, feeling of sadness, anxiety, irritability, fatigue, energy loss and

withdrawal from activation in commons and loss of interest inoneself and other as well as in sex.

Working women with families are prone to depressing for they bear the weight of household

work at their jobs together, working in two different environment, which are completely different

to one another. This is why married women suffer more than mere fromsymptoms of depression,

the double role they play are simply too much for most women to endure.15 The problem

of marital life are increasingly common among couples. It is an open truth that working women

have to face problems just by virtue of their being women. Social attitude to the role of women

lags much behind the law. Certain working conditions itself put strain on women that what men

experience. She has to almost always shoulder the burden of household chores as well. But in

mostfamilies even now her salary is handed over to the husband. Most of the problems beset

working women are in realty rooted in the social perspective of the position of women.

6.2 Review of literature

One of the most important early steps in a research subject is the conducting of literature

review.Aliterature review is an account of what has been published on atopic by accredited

scholar’s researchers.In writing the literature review,your purpose is to convey to your reader

what knowledge and ideas been established on a topic andwhattheir strength and weakness.

A literature review discusses published information in a particular subject area and sometimes

information in a particular subject area with in a certain time period.Review of literature can be

divided under following headings.

1)Studies related to adjustments in married life

2)Studies related to employment and married life

3)Comparative study of psychological problems of working and nonworking wives

1)studies related to adjustments in married life

Kim E (2012) conducted a study on marital adjustment and depressive symptoms in

Korean American couples.The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between the

quality of adjustment and depressive symptoms in Korean Americans. Fifty-three wives and 19

husbands reported on the Dyadic Adjustment Scale and the center for Epidemiologic Studies for

Depression Scale. Results from linear regression indicated a negative relationship between

marital adjustment anddepressive symptoms at a significant level for wives and near significant

for husbands. The model explained 15% of the variance in wives' depressive symptoms. The

negative impact of marital adjustment on depressive symptoms indicates thatKorean American

couples' marital adjustments need to be addressed.16

2)Hamdan-Mansour AM ,et al(2011)Conducted a study onMarital abuse and psychological

well-being among women in the southern region of Jordanpurpose of this study was to examine

the relationship between marital abuse and psychological well-being among women in the

southern region of Jordan. A descriptive co-relational design was used to collect data from a

randomly selected sample of 915 women in the southern region of Jordan. Datacollected were

related to forms of marital abuse and six domains of psychological well-being. There were

significant differences in marital abuse related to having ever had schooleducation. All forms of

marital abuse were highly co-related . Self acceptance and environmental mastery domains of

psychological well-being had negative and significant co-relation with all forms of marital

abuse.17

3)Humbad MN,et al(2010),Conducted a study on externalizing psychopathology and

marital adjustment in long-term marriages results from a large combined sample of married

couple.The current study evaluated the associations between externalizingpsychopathology and

marital adjustment in a combined sample of 1,805 marriedcouples. We further considered the

role of personality in these associations, as personality has been found to predict both the

development of externalizing psychopathology as well as marital distress and instability.

Diagnostic interviews assessed conduct disorder, adult symptoms of antisocial personality

disorder and alcohol dependence .Personality was assessed using the Multidimensional

Personality Questionnaire. The Dyadic Adjustment Scale was used to measure marital

adjustment. Results indicate that more externalizing psychopathology, greater negative

emotionality, and lower communal positiveemotionality were associated with reduced marital

adjustment in both individuals and their spouses. Low constraint was associated with reduced

marital adjustmentfor individuals but not for their spouses.18

4)Schumacher JA, et al.(2005) conducted a study on Husbands' and wives' marital

Adjustmental, verbal aggression, and physicalaggression as longitudinal predictors of physical

aggression in marriage. In this study, the authors examined these 3 constructs as risk

factors for physical aggression during the first 2 years of marriage in 634 couples recruited as

they applied for marriage licenses. Couples completedassessments at the time of marriage and

at their 1st and 2nd anniversaries.Results of path analyses suggest that prior verbal aggression

and physical aggression by both partners are important longitudinal predictors of physical

aggression but do not support the role of marital adjustment as a uniquepredictor of subsequent

physical aggression. Contrary to prior research, results also failed to support physical aggression

as a unique predictor of maritaladjustment.19

5)Katerndahl DA,et al(2005) conducted a study on An exploration of the spiritual

and psychosocial variables associated with husband-to-wife abuse and its effect on women in

abusive relationships. The purpose was to: 1) determine which aspects of religious belief

incompatibility were associated with husband-to-wife abuse; 2) determine whether religious

coping was independently associated with functional status among victims of spousal abuse; and

3) whether degree of abuse correlated with degrees of religious belief incompatibility or

functional status among abused wives. The result shows that in four areas of spiritual belief

(sense of being judged, closeness to God, congregational benefits, forgiveness), religious belief

incompatibility significantly predicted abuse. Perceived congregational help and religious coping

were associated with improved social support. Finally, abuse severity and duration correlated

with functional status but not with degree of religious belief incompatibility.20

2)Studies related to employment and psychological problems

1)Saxbe,et al.(2001)conduct a study on Time spent in housework and leisure: links

With parents' physiological recovery from work. The result shows that spouses' balancing of

housework and leisure activities at home may affect their recovery from work. This paper

reports on a study of everyday family life inwhich 30 dual-earner couples were tracked around

their homes by researchers whorecorded their locations and activities every 10 min. For women,

the most frequently pursued activities at home were housework, communication, and leisure;

husbands spent the most time in leisure activities, followed by communication and housework.

Spouses differed in their total time at home and their proportion oftime devoted to leisure and

housework activities, with wives observed more often in housework and husbands observe more

often in leisure activities. Both wives and husbands who devoted more time to housework had

higher levels of evening cortisol and weaker afternoon - to-evening recovery. For wives,

husbands' increased housework time also predicted stronger evening cortisol recovery. When

bothspouses' activities were entered in the same model, leisure predicted husbands'evening

cortisol, such that husbands who apportioned more time to leisure, andwhose wives apportioned

less time to leisure,showed stronger after-work.21

2).Khawaja M, et al (2007)conducted a study on Husbands' involvement in housework

and women's psychosocial health .The purpose of this study was to examine the association

between husbands' involvement in housework and the psychosocial health of their wives using

data on married couples living in poor neighborhoods in Beirut, Lebanon. Data were derived

from a cross-sectional survey of 2797 households.1652married couples and their families were

included in the analysis. Logistic regression was used to assess associations between

husbands' involvement in housework and wives' self-rated mental health status, marital

dissatisfaction, and unhappiness.The results showed a significant association between husbands'

involvement in housework and their wives' psychosocial health.22

3) Lennon MC.1994. Conducted a study on Women, work, and well-being , the

importance of work conditions.This study investigates the role of work conditions in mediating

the effect ofemployment status on married women's psychological well-being.Using data from a

national survey of employed wives and homemakers, find that full-time housework involves

more autonomy, more interruptions, greaterphysical effort, more routine, fewer time pressures,

and less responsibility for matters outside one's control than paid work. Differences in work

activities between employed wives and homemakers also have direct implications forwell-

being. Two of the dimensions examined--the extent to which the worker is responsible for things

outside her control, and the amount of routineentailed--are associated with greater depressive

symptoms among women, regardlessof work status. It appears that, as compared to employed

wives, full-time homemakers benefit from having less responsibility for things outside their

control. Employed wives appear to benefit from having less routinised work thanhomemakers.

As a result of the different configurations of their work characteristics, employed wives and

homemakers experience on average similarlevels of depressive symptoms.23