Happy Marriage, Happy Life? Marital Quality and Subjective Well-Being in Later Life
Carr, D.; Freedman, V.A.; Cornman, J.C.; Schwarz, N.
Journal of Marriage and the Family 76(5): 930-948
2014
ISSN/ISBN: 0022-2445 PMID: 25221351 DOI: 10.1111/jomf.12133Document Number: 418701
The authors examined associations between marital quality and both general life satisfaction and experienced (momentary) well-being among older husbands and wives, the relative importance of own versus spouse's marital appraisals for well-being, and the extent to which the association between own marital appraisals and well-being is moderated by spouse's appraisals. Data are from the 2009 Disability and Use of Time daily diary supplement to the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (N = 722). One's own marital satisfaction is a sizable and significant correlate of life satisfaction and momentary happiness; associations do not differ significantly by gender. The authors did not find a significant association between spouse's marital appraisals and own well-being. However, the association between husband's marital quality and life satisfaction is buoyed when his wife also reports a happy marriage, yet flattened when his wife reports low marital quality. Implications for understanding marital dynamics and well-being in later life are discussed.