The Relationship Between Marital Status and General Happiness

Individuals’ marital status has long been something considered to correlate directly with their level of general happiness. There have been many studies throughout the years that have confirmed this theory as it has been stated. Though this theory has been backed up by many studies there are some that have gone a step further in analyzing the relationship between a persons’ marital status and the general happiness of that person. Some studies like that of the academic journal by Kristi Williams in the year of 2003, entitled Has the future of marriage arrived? A contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being, suggest a positive association of an unmarried person and a higher level of depression. The study consisted of In-person interviews were conducted with a sample of 3,617 individuals of the age 24 or older residing in the United States. There were three waves of data collection in this survey and the retention rate for all three waves was 65 percent, with 1,269 respondents not participating in all three waves. Mortality was responsible for this at a rate of 43 percent and people not responding being responsible for the rest of the people who did not participate in all three waves. After all three waves it was found that the association was there but there was also more to the story. Those who were married and their marriage ended in divorce, they had heightened levels of depression in these cases. Even deeper, it was found that of divorced persons, men had even higher levels of depression than women had, but when it came to widowed individuals, it was the opposite (Williams, 2003). A study entitled Marital status, life-strains and depression by Leonard Pearlin and Joyce Johnson in 1977 also supports a similar idea of those who are unmarried that were previously married struggle more with depression than those who were never married. It was found that the group that is most depression free was the married individuals while the category of people who struggled with depression the most was those who were previously married. The people who had never been married however, fell in the middle of the two other groups of people. Of those who were formerly married the group who struggled the most with depression were those who were still legally married but were separated from their spouse while those who were widowed or divorced held similar rates of their struggle with depression (Pearlin & Johnson, 1977).

            Other studies argue that when married, it is the quality of a person’s marriage whether it is healthy and stabile or is unhealthy and hectic that is what determines a persons happiness. Claire Kamp Dush, Miles Taylor and Rhiannon Kroger conducted a study on marital happiness in 2008 entitled Marital happiness and psychological well-being across the life course. The study used individuals marital happiness, life happiness and depressive symptoms to measure their individual psychological well-being. The study came to the conclusion that individuals with higher life happiness happened to be in higher levels of marital happiness as well while individuals who were in lower levels of life happiness were in a lower level of marital happiness. Happiness seems to not just be based off marital status, but marital quality as well. Never married individuals seem to have a higher level of general happiness than those who are divorced, widowed, separated and in unhappy or unsatisfactory marriages (Kamp Dush, Taylor, & Kroger, 2008). Another study that supports this theory was done by Heejeong Choi and Nadine Marks in 2013 by the name of Marital quality, socioeconomic status, and physical health. The study found that individuals with a higher level of marital happiness also rated their self-rated health higher which includes things such as depressive symptoms, and functional limitations while compared to their marital happiness and individuals with a higher rate of marital conflict had a much higher level of functional limitations as well (Choi & Marks, 2013).

            A study done by Robert Coombs in 1991 entitled Marital status and personal well-being: A literature review looked at general happiness and well-being of individuals through the levels of stress and emotional pathology which is measured through studies of alcoholism, suicide, mortality and morbidity, schizophrenia, other psychiatric problems and self-reported happiness. The study ultimately found that Married persons when compared to their unmarried counterparts are experiencing less physical and emotional pathology as well as they have a higher level of happiness and are less emotionally distressed than those who are unmarried (Coombs, 1991).

A few studies discounted the relationship between a positive marital status and individual happiness. One of which was a study done in 1988 by Norval Glenn and Charles Weaver entitled The changing relationship of marital status to reported happiness. This study was done using the General Social Survey from the years 1972-1986 and found that the relationship between marital status and reported happiness declined during the period that was covered and that it was greater for males than it was for females as well as it was greater for younger aged adults than it was for older adults during this period (Glenn & Weaver, 1988). A second study that was a continuation of this and also worked with the General Social Survey was done by Gary Lee, Karen Seccombe and Constance Shehan in 1991 was entitled Marital status and personal happiness. This study though, focused on a subset age group of 25-39 and found both males and females had an increase in happiness of unmarried individuals while still having higher levels of happiness among married individuals especially in the early and late years of the study. The middle years of the study experienced the closest relation of happiness between the married and unmarried.

One last study also discounted the relationship of marital status and general happiness but took quite a different route. The study was done by John Ryan in 1981 and was titled Marital status, happiness, and Anomia. This study also used the General Social Survey but looked at the effects that marital status brought as well as the by-product of marital happiness on anomie. The study also looked at socioeconomic status among other things such as education and occupational prestige. It was found that education (used as a measure of socioeconomic status in this study) had more of an effect on the status of anomie rather than a person’s marital status. In order to support this the study examined extra-curricular activities, family and friends, overall self-health and a person’s financial situation were all also examined and found to be able to replace the satisfaction or happiness that a marriage can provide.

Data and Methods

            The data used for this research was collected from the General Social Survey in the year 2018 on people’s general happiness as well as their marital status. The data collected is secondary data and there were 2,350 respondents in the General Social Survey. The dependent variable in this research was the general happiness of the respondents. There were options ranging from ‘Not too happy’, ‘Pretty happy’, and ‘Very happy’ as well as a response option of ‘Don’t know’. As it shows in Table 1 below, most people responded as ‘Pretty happy’ right in the middle with smaller percentages of people responding as ‘Very happy’ and ‘Not too happy’ and a mere .3 percent had no response or responded, ‘Don’t know’.

Table 1
General Happiness
Respondent responses to the question, “Taken all together, how would you say things are these days–would you say that you are very happy, pretty happy, or not too happy?”	Count	%
Not too happy	336	14.3
Pretty Happy	1307	55.6
Very happy	701	29.8
Don’t know	6	0.3
Note: Respondents who responded “Don’t Know” were excluded from analysis because the study aimed to understand the happiness of respondents.

            The independent variable used in this research was the respondent’s marital status. The options for response included ‘Divorced’, ‘Married’, ‘Never married’, ‘Separated’, and ‘Widowed’. Table 2 below shows that the highest number of people reported to be ‘Married’ and a substantial amount of people also reported to be ‘Divorced’ or ‘Never’ married as well. There was also a minimal amount of people who reported to be either ‘Separated’ or ‘Widowed’ with only .2 percent of people with no answer.

Table 2
Marital Status
Are you currently–married, widowed, divorced, separated, or have you never been married?	Count	%
Divorced	403	17.1
Married	998	42.5
Never married	670	28.5
Seperated	75	3.2
Widowed	200	8.5
No answer	4	0.2
Note: Repondents who did not answer the question were excluded from the study because the study aimed to understand the happiness of respondents when compared to their marital status.

Finally, there was a bivariate analysis done using the General Social Survey and the responses of the 2,350 respondents and their responses when asked about their marital status and their general happiness. The Bivariate analysis was done using SPSS and the results are as shown below in Table 3.

Table 3
Respondents General Happiness by Marital Status
	Divorced	Married	Never Married	Seperated	Widowed
Respondents General Happiness	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%	Count	%
Not too happy	84	20.80%	61	6.10%	135	20.10%	19	25.30%	37	18.50%
Pretty happy	242	60%	504	50.50%	409	61%	40	53.30%	111	55.50%
Very happy	77	19.10%	432	43.30%	124	18.50%	15	20%	52	26%
Note: Missing values and responses of “Don’t know” were excluded because the study aimed to find the relation of general happiness and marital status.

Results

            After closely examining the results of the bivariate analysis done in SPSS we find that while there is some correlation between a person’s marital status and their general happiness, it is not overly significant. Most respondents fell under the “Pretty happy” category rather than the “Very happy” or “Not too happy” categories no matter their marital status. Even with most people falling under “Pretty happy”, when looking at those that are married there is still a large portion of this category at 43.3% that responded, “Very happy with only 6.1% responding that they were “Not too happy”. Those that have never been married also had a significant percentage of 61% respond as “Pretty happy” with the other 39 percent being split almost even between “Very happy” and “Not too happy”. This same trend goes across the board for the rest of the marital statuses of divorced, separated, and widowed.

Conclusion

            With the observation of the results of the study we find that there is some correlation between the marital status and the general happiness of respondents. With those that are not married whether they are divorced, separated, widowed, or never have been married we find that the vast majority of respondents being “Pretty happy” at or above about 50 percent of the respondents within that marital status which is right in the middle. We do see a significant difference for their married counterparts however, with about half of them responding that they are “Pretty happy” and a significant amount of 43.3% of them responding “Very happy” and a very minimal 6.1% responding that they are “Not too happy.

            These results are significant because it shows that there is a correlation between people’s general happiness and their marital status. This gives us insight on the update of studies that have been done in the past relating to people, their marital status and their general happiness in a more up to date manner. This study can also be replicated in future years to see if this trend continues to show that people are more likely to be happy when they are married than when they are not.

Works Cited

Choi, H., & Marks, N. F. (2013). Marital quality, socioeconomic status, and physical health. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75(4), 903–919. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12044

Coombs, R. H. (1991). Marital status and personal well-being: A literature review. Family Relations, 40(1), 97. https://doi.org/10.2307/585665

Glenn, N. D., & Weaver, C. N. (1988). The changing relationship of marital status to reported happiness. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 50(2), 317. https://doi.org/10.2307/351999

Kamp Dush, C. M., Taylor, M. G., & Kroeger, R. A. (2008). Marital happiness and psychological well-being across the life course. Family Relations, 57(2), 211–226. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2008.00495.x

Lee, G. R., Seccombe, K., & Shehan, C. L. (1991). Marital status and personal happiness: An analysis of trend data. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 53(4), 839. https://doi.org/10.2307/352991

Pearlin, L. I., & Johnson, J. S. (1977). Marital status, life-strains and depression. American Sociological Review, 42(5), 704. https://doi.org/10.2307/2094860

Ryan, J. (1981). Marital status, happiness, and Anomia. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 43(3), 643. https://doi.org/10.2307/351765

Williams, K. (2003). Has the future of marriage arrived? A contemporary examination of gender, marriage, and psychological well-being. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 44(4), 470. https://doi.org/10.2307/1519794

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