Research into the Relative Influences of Spouses Doing Housework, Family decision-making, and Physical and Mental Health on Chinese Family Marital Satisfaction

Abstract

Marriage is one of the closest and longest relationships in people’s lives. However, not everyone finds happiness in a marital relationship. In recent years, the rapid development of the social economy and the rapid transformation of the social structure have impacted on the traditional marriage relationship in China. The stability of the modern family structure has encountered severe challenges and the divorce rate has increased year by year. This makes research into the factors that influence marital satisfaction an important topic. We used data from the China General Social Survey (CGSS) in 2017 to construct a structural equation model to study the influences of spouse doing housework (SDH), family decision-making (FDM) and physical and mental health (PMH) on Chinese family marital satisfaction (MS). Our results show that SDH has a positive effect on MS, FDM has a negative effect on MS, and PMH has a positive effect on MS. SDH and FDM affect MS in combination, as do SDH and PMH. PMH has the greatest impact on MS, followed by SDH, and FDM has the weakest relative impact on MS. This research has important practical significance for society and suggests ways in which a “harmonious family” could be promoted by motivating society to promote and support a good family style, and so to improve MS for married couples.