The experience of happiness in enduring marriages: A qualitative study

The experience of happiness in an enduring marriage causes internal satisfaction among couples. It also affects the well-being and development of their children. The present study was set up to investigate the lived experiences of couples who expressed satisfaction with their married life. Following a phenomenological approach, this study conducted in-depth and exploratory interviews among 14 married males and females who believed they had happy marriages. Data were collected , coded and organized in the form of themes and subthemes. 256 codes, 21 subthemes and 5 themes were identified through the content analysis of the data. The five main themes extracted were feeling of happiness, moral factors in happiness, presence of others, happiness raising behaviors and constructive marriage. The result revealed that happiness in marriage entails a feeling of comfort and satisfaction created by moral and ethical consideration observed by the couple, performed in the presence of others and accompanied by happiness raising behaviors. Mutual relationships between meanings and standards of happy marriages were also revealed.