EXPLORING CONCEPTIONS AND POSSIBLE RELATED FACTORS OF MARITAL LOVE AMONG URBAN MALAYS

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Date
2011
Authors
MOHD HOESNI, SUZANA
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Abstract
While love within marriage is important, studies on love in the psychology field have only flourished recently. Therefore, the aim of this study is to explore how people view the concept of marital love and express marital love among urban Malays. Two studies were initiated in this research using two theories from the psychology field: 1) the prototype love theory (Fehr, 1988) from the implicit perspective and 2) the triangular love theory (Sternberg, 1986) from the explicit perspective resulting marital love in three components: intimacy, passion and commitment. Both studies were conducted using the mixed method research design as described by Creswell & Clark (2008) Study 1 consisted of245 soon-to-bemarried urban Malays attending a compulsory premarital course in Federal Territory. Questionnaires consisting of demographic background, relationship background, Subjective Meanings of Marital Love (SMML 1 -Study 1 and open-ended questions), Expressions ofMarital Love (EML 1 and open-ended questions) were distributed to the participants. Study 2 focussed on 600 married urban Malays working in the governmental sectors in Federal Territory. Study 2 additionally explored marital love with relationship factors (e.g., total number of years married, total number of children, age of children, length of time getting to know spouse, discrepancy between participants' expressions of marital love and participants' perception of their spouses' expressions of marital love) and psychological factors ( e.g.,marital satisfaction and psychological well-being). Questionnaires in Study 2 consisted of items/questions on Subjective Meanings of Marital Love (SMML 2), Expressions of Marital Love (EML 2), questions regarding marital satisfaction and xxvi psychological well-being. Findings indicated that: 1) participants valued relationship with God as an important element in the meanings of marital love; 2) intimacy was more important than passion when perceiving or expressing marital love; 3) expressing marital love depended on situation and individuals who were around; 4) relationship factors (years of marriage, total number of children and age of children) were crucial when giving meanings and expressing marital love and 5) individual's perception on marital love mattered when evaluating marital satisfaction and psychological well-being. These findings suggested that it is insufficient to use single theory to describe the nature oflove and indicated urgent need to study love within specific contexts. This is important because it has practical implications to helping professionals in dealing individuals with specific background. Limitation of this study and the future direction of studies relating to love were also discussed. (395 words)
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EXPLORING CONCEPTIONS AND POSSIBLE
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