Relationship Between Marital Expectations and Marital Satisfaction Among Married Individuals in the Seventh - Day Adventist Church in Jomoro Municipality, Ghana

Abstract

The link between marital expectations and marital satisfaction amongst husband and wife in the Seventh-day Adventist Church in the Jomoro Municipality was explored in this study. Participants included married adults of the Seventh-day Adventist church from the Jomoro Municipality. Two research questions and two hypotheses served as the basis for the investigation. For the purpose of conducting the study, the correlational research design with a quantitative approach was used. The target audience consisted of all married Seventh-day Adventists in the Jomoro Municipality, which had a total population of 621 people. A multi-stage sampling technique was used to engage 434 married individuals in the study. A standardized questionnaire on marital expectations and marital satisfaction were used to gather data from the respondents. Data on research questions 1 and 2 were analysed using means and standard deviations. Data on hypotheses 1 and 2 were however tested using simple linear regression and the PROCESS moderation analysis proposed by Hayes, using bootstrap samples. The study found a positively weak relationship between marital expectations and marital satisfaction. It was further discovered that although respondents had high levels of marital expectations and marital satisfaction, Seventh-day Adventist married individuals were not satisfied with their partner’s character, temperament as well as the interference of in-laws in their marriages. It was recommended that in-laws of married individuals should avoid excessive interferences into the marriage of Seventh-day Adventists married individuals, since excessive in-law inferences could result in marital dissatisfaction which could in turn lead to divorce or separation on the part of the married individuals.