What Is the Impact of Choosing One’s Spouse on Marital Satisfaction of Wives and Husbands? The Case of Arranged and Self-Choice Turkish Marriages

The present study explored how Turkish husbands and wives in arranged or self-selected marriages differ in terms of the love, partnership, and problems components of marital satisfaction. Four hundred and fifty-six heterosexual couples participated in the study. Indeed, 33% of the marriages were identified as arranged. Marital satisfaction was measured by using the Love for Spouse, Partnership, and Problems with Partner scales (from the Marriage and Relationship Questionnaire), all of which had previously been shown to demonstrate measurement invariance across genders and cultures. According to the results of multivariate analysis of covariance (controlling for length of marriage and education), (a) spouses in self-selected marriages reported more love relative to those in arranged marriages, (b) wives reported more problems than their husbands regardless of marriage type, and (c) the wives in arranged marriages reported significantly less partnership than both the husbands and the wives in self-selected marriages. Results are discussed within a cross-cultural perspective.