Marital Satisfaction, Communication Patterns, and Couple Map Perceived by Balinese Women In Their Marriage.
USULAN
INSENTIF PUBLIKASI ILMIAH
Marital Satisfaction, Communication Patterns, and Couple Map Perceived by
Balinese Women in Their Marriage
Oleh:
Made Diah Lestari, S.Psi, M.Psi (0029048107)
PROGRAM STUDI PSIKOLOGI
FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN
UNIVERSITAS UDAYANA
2014
DAFTAR ISI
HALAMAN SAMPUL
DAFTAR ISI ............................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………… 1
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………….. 2
METHODS …………………………………………………………………………. 3
RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………… 3 - 6
DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………. 6 - 8
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………... 8
LAMPIRAN
1
Marital Satisfaction, Communication Patterns, and Couple Map Perceived by
Balinese Women in Their Marriage
Made Diah Lestari
Psychology Study Program, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University
mdlestari@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The view of feminism on family changed the traditional conception of the role of husband and
wife. Feminism sees the family as an open system that allows for changes in the role and
opportunity (Olson & Defrain, 2003). Wife's role is not limited to parenting (expressive role) and
the husband is not the only side that sustains family income (instrumental role). It is often found
in growing city that presents opportunities and diverse demands of live, one example is Denpasar
- Bali. On the other hand, the culture and customs of Bali presents unique social roles for men
and women who are married. The social roles are something inherited. In effect, the role is
complex, varied between change and tradition demands. Complexity and the changing role
impact on of cohesion, flexibility, and communication patterns in couples. Cohesion and
flexibility are the dimensions that determine the dynamics of couples (Olson & Defrain, 2003).
This study would like to see the shape of couple map, communication patterns and marital
satisfaction perceived by Balinese Women in their marriage. The approach used is a quantitative
approach to measure Couple and Family Scale developed by Olson. The subjects of this study
were Balinese Women, domicile in Denpasar, aged 25-54 years who are married and working.
The results showed that the relationship of husband and wife relatively enmeshed, with rules that
are flexible. Message clarity and speaking skill are two of the main content on communication
between couples in the study. The subjects of this study are satisfied in their marriage.
Keywords: communication, couple map, marital satisfaction.
2
INTRODUCTION
The family is a system where there is
a collection of roles and rules in it. The roles
are concerning the relationship between
husband and wife, parent and child,
including how the family presents
themselves in the society. Speaking of the
relationship between husband and wife, it
also includes elements of the division of
roles. The conventional point of view sees
that the wife plays the parenting or domestic
role or better known as the expressive role,
while the husband assumes the breadwinner
role termed as the instrumental role (Olson
& Defrain, 2003).
In the study of feminism, this role is
not absolute, meaning that the wife does not
always take on the domestic role, but she can
be the backbone of the family as the
breadwinner. The opposite also applies to
her husband. This phenomenon is common
in big cities that present open opportunities
for women to play a role outside of the
home. On the other hand, living in large
cities also demands costs and expenses for
greater consumption so this should lead to a
dual income family, where husband and wife
equally play an instrumental role in order to
meet the needs of the family. One of the big
cities to be studied is Denpasar.
Denpasar is the capital city of Bali
Province which has now developed into a
plural city. There are local and also migrant
communities. For the local communities, the
cultural values are inherent and internalized.
This is what makes the community and the
individuals within it exist as a unique entity.
They are unique because they live on two
different sides, but mutually interact. There
are the evolution of times and changes, as
well as cultures and customs on the other
side of the continuum. The people in
Denpasar in their daily lives exist on this
continuum. Each side of the continuum
presents varied roles for individuals that lead
to complex roles. This complexity is
experienced by women who are married and
working. Their role is not only that as a
mother who plays the expressive role but
also the instrumental role, and the social role
by customs. In the study of family dynamics,
the change of role is one of the factors that
results in changes to the family map known
as the couple map. Cohesion, flexibility and
communication are the three components
that make up the couple map (Olson &
Defrain, 2003).
Cohesion refers to the emotional
bond between family members. Cohesion
dimension consists of emotional bonding,
boundaries, coalitions, time, place, number
of friendships, decision-making, interests
and creations. The focus of cohesion is how
the family system works in balance between
the continuum of separateness and the
continuum of togetherness (Olson & Gorall,
2003). There are four levels of cohesion
namely disengaged, separated, connected,
and enmeshed. Disengaged and enmeshed
are classified into the unbalanced level.
Separated and connected on the other hand
are classified into the well-balanced level
that support the formation of couples and
families that can function optimally. The
characteristics of each level are described in
Figure 1. Circumplex Model: Couple and
Family Map. From the image, the
differences in the application of the
dimensions of cohesion in couples and
families can be observed.
Flexibility is the number of exchange
of leadership, roles, and rules in couples and
families. Flexibility dimension consists of
leadership,
negotiation
styles,
role
relationships, and rules. Olson (1999) stated
that the focus of flexibility is on how the
system is maintaining the balance between
stability and change. Flexibility consists of
four levels namely rigid, structured, flexible,
and chaotic. Structured and flexible are two
levels that are considered as encouraging a
relationship and family to function. Rigid
3
and chaotic, on the other hand, are usually
found in troubled families.
Couple map refers to a couple or
family map by taking into consideration the
level of cohesion and flexibility. The
interconnection between the levels of
cohesion and flexibility creates 16 types of
couples in the couple map. The
characteristics of the 16 types of couples are
illustrated by Figure 1. Circumplex Model:
Couple and Family Map.
Figure 1. Circumplex Model: Couple and
Family Map
the marriage and the extent of their marital
satisfaction. The results of this study are
expected to help the women who work and
have a complex role in life to still feel
contentment in their marriage. This study
also intends to provide an overview of the
factors that determine the marital satisfaction
and the optimal functioning of the family.
METHODS
This research is a quantitative
research using couple and family scale
(Olson & Defrain, 2003). The measuring
instrument is also supported with open
ended questions to obtain the data associated
with the experience of the subjects related to
the measured dimensions. The subjects were
50 women who are married and working in
Bali, based in Denpasar, and aged 25 to 54
years old. The data obtained from the
research subjects were analyzed using cross
tabulation analysis, descriptive statistics,
linier regression analysis, and coding
analysis.
RESULT
Source: Olson (in Kouneski, 2000)
Furthermore, Olson (2000) states that
the communication is present in the third
dimension of the couple and family map.
Communication is stated as the facilitating
dimension.
The
dimension
of
communication consists of listening skills,
speaking skills, self disclosure, clarity, focus
on a conversation, as well as respect and
acceptance.
Through the description concerning
the couple map, this study aims to see how
the image of the couple map is perceived by
Balinese women who are married and
working in their marriage. This study also
aims to see the patterns of communication in
Based on the analysis of descriptive
statistics, the majority of subjects are aged
35-44 years, as many as 23 people, followed
by 25-34 years as many as 18 people and as
many as 9 people are aged between 45-54
years. In terms of the age of marriage, most
of the subjects have been married for 1-5
years, the husband is older by 1-3 years, the
number of children is 1-2, with parenting
contribution of 71 % - 100 %. The research
subjects have mainly worked for more than
10 years with an income ranging from 1
million to 5 million Rupiah per month.
4
Table 1. Description of Research Subjects
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Their Age
Age
Frequency
Percent
25 – 34 years
18
36%
35 – 44 years
23
46%
45 – 54 years
9
18%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Their Marriage Age
Marriage Age
Frequency
Percent
1 - 5 years
16
32%
6 – 10 years
10
20%
11 – 15 years
9
18%
16 – 20 years
6
12%
21 – 25 years
5
10%
26 – 30 years
4
8%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Their Number of Children
The Number of
Frequency
Percent
Children
None
7
14%
1 – 2 children
32
64%
3 – 4 children
11
22%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Parenting Contribution
Contribution
Frequency
Percent
0% - 30%
9
18%
31% - 70%
15
30%
71% - 100%
26
52%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Education Level
Education
Frequency
Percent
High School
9
18%
3 year Diploma
7
14%
S1
28
56%
S2
6
12%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Age Difference from The Husband
Age Difference
Frequency
Percent
The husband is
2
4%
younger
Having the same age
10
20%
The husband is older
23
46%
1 – 3 years
The husband is older
15
30%
4 – 7 years old
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Occupation
Types of Occupation Frequency
Percent
Civil Servant
33
66%
Private Employee
17
34%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Monthly Salary
Salary
Frequency
Percent
500 thousand – 1
1
2%
million
1 million – 2 million
13
26%
2 million – 5 million
35
70%
>5 million
1
2%
Distribution of Research Subjects
By Working Period
Working Period
Frequency
Percent
0 – 3 years
6
12%
4 – 6 years
9
18%
7– 10 years
5
10%
>10 years
30
60%
The distribution of cohesion level
frequency is illustrated in Table 2. Cohesion
Level Frequency. The table shows that there
is no subject in disengaged level. Enmeshed
level is the type that appears most often. It
means that most of the subjects have a great
emotional bond and demand high loyalty of
their partners. The subjects are very
dependent and reactive in terms of feelings
towards each other. At this enmeshed type,
the subjects cannot be separated from their
husbands or partners, and there is almost no
privacy at all. The subjects’ energy and
activity are focused exclusively on their
husbands. Enmeshed type in marriage is
usually characterized by lack of social
interaction and friendship (Olson & Gorall,
2003).
Table 2. Cohesion Level Frequency
Cohesion Level
Disengaged
Separated
Connected
Enmeshed
Total
Frequency
0
5
13
32
50
Percent
0%
10%
26%
64%
100%
5
Through regression testing, it was
found that the factors such as age, the age of
marriage, the number of children, the
parenting contribution, education level, age
difference from the husband, occupation,
working period, and salary all together
contributed as much as 19.3% on the
variation of the cohesion dimension.
On the dimension of flexibility,
flexible is the level that appears most often,
followed by the structured level. This
suggests that most of the subjects perceive
that in their marriage, the equalitarian
leadership pattern is applied with a
democratic approach in decision-making.
Negotiations are applied openly and do not
rule out the possibility of the involvement of
other family members such as children in
discussions for problem solving. Roles are
shared and dynamic in nature if required.
Role changes are possible in this level
(Olson & Gorall, 2003). The distribution of
flexibility level frequency can be observed
in Table 3. Flexibility Level Frequency.
Table 3. Flexibility Level Frequency
Flexibility Level
Rigid
Structured
Flexible
Chaotic
Total
Frequency
1
19
23
7
50
Percent
2%
38%
46%
14%
100%
Simultaneously, the variables of age,
age of marriage, number of children, the
parenting contribution, the age difference
with husband, level of education,
occupation, working period, and income
contributed 32.3 % to the variation in the
flexibility dimension.
Through the overview of the
distribution of subjects based on the level of
cohesion and flexibility, in Table 4.
Frequency Couple Type Map, it can be seen
that most of the subjects have the flexibly
enmeshed type. This means that most of the
subjects are in the mid range zone.
The subjects located on the mid
range zone are characterized by one
dimension functioning optimally but the
other dimension still needing attention. If
analyzed by the results of the distribution of
subjects based on cohesion and flexibility
dimensions, the research subjects are
optimal in the dimension of flexibility but
rather weak in the cohesion dimension in
which the subjects are largely at the
enmeshed level with the high level of
dependency on their partners.
The communication that exists
between the couples is open communication;
the couples always share their feelings and
thoughts, they focus on the topic, the
message they want to convey is clear, they
always talk to each other, they give positive
feedback, and there is growing respect and
acceptance towards their partner.
Table 4. Couple Map Type Frequency
Couple Map Types
Chaotically Disengaged
Chaotically Separated
Chaotically Connected
Chaotically Enmeshed
Flexibly Disengaged
Flexibly Separated
Flexibly Connected
Flexibly Enmeshed
Structurally Disengaged
Structurally Separated
Structurally Connected
Structurally Enmeshed
Rigidly Disengaged
Rigidly Separated
Rigidly Connected
Rigidly Enmeshed
Total
Frequency
0
0
0
7
0
0
4
19
0
5
8
6
0
0
1
0
50
Percent
0%
0%
0%
14%
0%
0%
8%
38%
0%
10%
16%
12%
0%
0%
2%
0%
100%
Through the linear regression
analysis, it was found out that the
contribution of the variables namely age, age
6
of marriage, number of children, parenting
contribution, the age difference with
husband, education level, occupation,
working period, and salary all together
contributed to 35.5 % to the couple map
variation.
Overall, most of the subjects were
satisfied with their marriage. Through the
coding analysis, the factors contributing to
the marriage satisfaction are respect and
acceptance, self disclosure, negotiation style,
roles relationship, loyalty, number of
children, and age of marriage. Respect and
acceptance is the most responses in this
study. The subjects stated that accept
partner’s characteristics is resource of
marital satisfaction. Subjects also felt that
self disclosure is resource of couple
happiness. In flexibility dimension, problem
solving style and negotiation opportunity are
the main factors that contributed to marital
satisfaction. These factors include how their
partner regard their career and how their
problem solving negotiation. Subject will
satisfied when they are given a great
opportunity for career by their husband.
They also need negotiation process in
solving problem. They need their husband
respect their idea, opinion, and alternatives
solution regarding to the problem.
In cohesion dimension, loyalty is a
main factor that contributed to marital
satisfaction. Loyalty is how far their partner
can be a trusted figure. Loyalty is also
amount of compliment they are given by
their husband. Two subjects also said that
children are resources of happiness and
marital satisfaction. Contribution of the
variables such as age, age of marriage,
number of children, parenting contribution,
age difference with husband, education
level, occupation, working period and salary
all together is 23.9 % towards the variation
in marital satisfaction.
In this study, it was found that
variations in marital satisfaction were
significantly determined by the patterns of
communication and the level of cohesion.
The opposite results were obtained on the
contribution of flexibility and the type of
couple map, where the two variables did not
contribute significantly to the marriage
satisfaction of the subjects.
Table 5. Contribution of Communication
Patterns, Cohesion, Flexibility, and Couple Map
Types to Marriage Satisfaction
Predictors
Active listening
Speaking skill
Self disclosure
Clarity
Attentive
listening
Respect
and
regards
Cohesion
Flexibility
Couple Map
R
.371
.670
.567
.736
.643
R2
0.137
0,449
0,322
0,541
0,413
F
7.639
39.058
22.785
56.655
33.839
Sig
.008
.000
.000
.000
.000
.607
0,369
28.030
.000
.600
.238
.111
0,360
0,057
0,012
27.009
2.890
.603
.000
.096
.441
From
the Table 5. Contribution of
Communication Patterns, Cohesion, Flexibility,
and Couple Map Types to Marriage Satisfaction,
it can be seen that the role of communication
pattern is very important in creating marital
satisfaction. The greatest contribution was
from the clarity, which is the clarity of the
message delivered by the couple. The
research subjects also consider that cohesion
is more important than flexibility in
generating marital satisfaction.
DISCUSSION
Most of the subjects in this study
perceive the couple map type in their
marriage as flexible enmeshed type. This
points out that they consider their
relationship with their husbands as very
close. All of their activities and attention are
devoted to their marriage. Emotionally, they
are very close to their partners, and often
there is no secret. They tend to be
dependent; the relationship with the husband
7
is very exclusive. Wives with this type of
couple map usually have a little social
networking outside of their marriage. The
positive point is that the rules are applied
flexibly; the husband and wife switch roles
in a flexible, not rigid manner. Similarly, in
decision making, everyone plays a role in it
and the decision making is done under
democratic principles.
The above description is in
accordance with the assumptions of this
research, in which for the working women,
the roles change flexibly. The type
leadership in any marriage is equalitarian,
namely there is equality between husband
and wife. Decision-making is not always
done by the husband who initially played the
instrumental role. Sometimes wives can also
act as leaders and be given the chance to
take a decision.
On the dimension of cohesion, the
results of the study showed that although the
dimension of flexibility, leadership and the
rules aspects are applied democratically,
wives still have an emotional bond with their
husbands. Although the wives are given an
equal number of roles, they still perceive
themselves to be dependent on their
husbands. The next interesting finding is that
although the research subjects have a
working status, they mainly focus on their
marriage and families. Most of them also
have a limited social network outside of
marriage and the family environment. These
findings are interesting for further
investigation regarding the breadth of social
networking of the working women. When
analyzed further, of course, it can also be
concluded that although the women are
working, they still give their primary
attention to their marriage and families.
The communication that exists
between the couples in this study is open,
focused, has clarity of the message, involves
speaking skills, ability to give positive
feedback, and there is respect and
acceptance between the couples.
The flexible enmeshed type belongs
to the mid range zone. In order to improve
the family functioning, the research subjects
need to cultivate their independence, try to
be less attached to their partners, look for a
variety of activities outside of the marriage
and the family as a means of self-privacy,
and extend social networking because no
matter what each woman needs to enjoy a
world of their own in addition to devotion to
their husbands and families. In contrast to
Olson & Defrain (2003), flexibility does not
contribute
significantly
to
marital
satisfaction. Subjects are more concerned
with aspects of communication and
cohesion.
The contribution of the variables
namely age, age of marriage, number of
children, the parenting contribution, age
difference with the husband, education level,
occupation, working period, and salary all
together was 23.9 % towards the variation in
marital satisfaction. The remaining 76.1 %
was explained by a number of other
variables that were not analyzed in this
study.
In order to develop the theory
concerning
the
couple
map,
the
implementation of cohesion and flexibility
and what causes cohesion contribution is
greater than the contribution of flexibility
need to be further studied. Another thing that
needs to be investigated is the individual
characteristic variables, and certain traits
that support the functioning of a marriage.
Given that the Indonesians, exclusively Bali
are mostly consisting of extended families, it
is necessary to also study the role of the
family, the picture of the relationship
between wives and their partners’ extended
families and their husbands’regional or
ethnic origin.
This study concludes that there are
two things that are capable of supporting
marital satisfaction, namely communication
patterns and the level of cohesion. On the
communication pattern variable, clarity of
8
the message and speaking skills are the two
main factors in communicating with the
biggest contribution in determining marriage
satisfaction.
REFERENCES
Barber, B.K. & Buehler, C. (2001). Family
Cohesion and Enmeshment: Different
Constructs, Different Effects. Journal of
Marriage and Family, 58, 433 – 441.
(3rd Ed.). (pp 514 – 547). New York:
Guilford.
Openshaw, K.P. (2011). Family Resilience, and
Quality of Life Among Rehabilitation
Clients.
Doctorate
of
Philosophy
Dissertation. Utah State University, Utah.
Riduwan,
&
Sunarto.
(2009).
Pengantar
statistika untuk penelitian pendidikan sosial,
komunikasi, ekonomi, dan bisnis. Bandung:
ALFABETA.
Ghanbaripanah, A., Mustaffa, S., & Entezar,
R.K. (2013). Analysis of Family Dynamics
Across The Family Life Cycle. International
Journal of Fundamental Psychology and
Social Science, 3, 10 – 11.
Kouneski, E.F. (2000). Family Assessment and
The Circumplex Model: New Research
Developments
and
Applications.
Dissertation, University of Minnesota,
Minnesota.
Tsabari, N.M., & Lavee, Y. (2012). Too Close
and Too Rigid: Applying The Circumplex
Model of Family Systems to First
Generation of Family Firms. Journal of
Marital and Family Therapy, 38, 105 - 116
Widi, R. K. (2010). Asas metodologi penelitian:
Sebuah pengenalan dan penuntun langkah
demi
langkah
pelaksanaan
Yogyakarta: Graha Ilmu.
Lavee, Y., & Olson, D.H. (1993). Seven Types
of Marriage: Empirical Typology Based on
ENRICH. Journal of Marital and Family
Therapy, 19, 325 – 340.
Olson, D.H. (1999). Circumplex Model of
Marital and Family Systems. The Journal of
Family Therapy. 1 – 22.
Olson, D.H. (2000). PREPARE/ENRICH
Program: Version 2000. In Berger, R. &
Hannah,
M.
(Eds.)
Handbook
of
Preventative Approach in Couple Therapy.
196 – 216.
Olson, D.H., & DeFrain, J. (2003). Marriage and
Family: Intimacy, Diversity, and Strength
(4th ed). New York: McGraw Hill.
Olson, D.H., & Gorall, D.M. (2003). Circumplex
Model of Marital and Family Systems. In F,
Walsh (Eds.) Normal and Family Processes.
penelitian.
INSENTIF PUBLIKASI ILMIAH
Marital Satisfaction, Communication Patterns, and Couple Map Perceived by
Balinese Women in Their Marriage
Oleh:
Made Diah Lestari, S.Psi, M.Psi (0029048107)
PROGRAM STUDI PSIKOLOGI
FAKULTAS KEDOKTERAN
UNIVERSITAS UDAYANA
2014
DAFTAR ISI
HALAMAN SAMPUL
DAFTAR ISI ............................................................................................................... iv
ABSTRACT ………………………………………………………………………… 1
INTRODUCTION ………………………………………………………………….. 2
METHODS …………………………………………………………………………. 3
RESULTS …………………………………………………………………………… 3 - 6
DISCUSSION ………………………………………………………………………. 6 - 8
REFERENCES ……………………………………………………………………... 8
LAMPIRAN
1
Marital Satisfaction, Communication Patterns, and Couple Map Perceived by
Balinese Women in Their Marriage
Made Diah Lestari
Psychology Study Program, Faculty of Medicine, Udayana University
mdlestari@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The view of feminism on family changed the traditional conception of the role of husband and
wife. Feminism sees the family as an open system that allows for changes in the role and
opportunity (Olson & Defrain, 2003). Wife's role is not limited to parenting (expressive role) and
the husband is not the only side that sustains family income (instrumental role). It is often found
in growing city that presents opportunities and diverse demands of live, one example is Denpasar
- Bali. On the other hand, the culture and customs of Bali presents unique social roles for men
and women who are married. The social roles are something inherited. In effect, the role is
complex, varied between change and tradition demands. Complexity and the changing role
impact on of cohesion, flexibility, and communication patterns in couples. Cohesion and
flexibility are the dimensions that determine the dynamics of couples (Olson & Defrain, 2003).
This study would like to see the shape of couple map, communication patterns and marital
satisfaction perceived by Balinese Women in their marriage. The approach used is a quantitative
approach to measure Couple and Family Scale developed by Olson. The subjects of this study
were Balinese Women, domicile in Denpasar, aged 25-54 years who are married and working.
The results showed that the relationship of husband and wife relatively enmeshed, with rules that
are flexible. Message clarity and speaking skill are two of the main content on communication
between couples in the study. The subjects of this study are satisfied in their marriage.
Keywords: communication, couple map, marital satisfaction.
2
INTRODUCTION
The family is a system where there is
a collection of roles and rules in it. The roles
are concerning the relationship between
husband and wife, parent and child,
including how the family presents
themselves in the society. Speaking of the
relationship between husband and wife, it
also includes elements of the division of
roles. The conventional point of view sees
that the wife plays the parenting or domestic
role or better known as the expressive role,
while the husband assumes the breadwinner
role termed as the instrumental role (Olson
& Defrain, 2003).
In the study of feminism, this role is
not absolute, meaning that the wife does not
always take on the domestic role, but she can
be the backbone of the family as the
breadwinner. The opposite also applies to
her husband. This phenomenon is common
in big cities that present open opportunities
for women to play a role outside of the
home. On the other hand, living in large
cities also demands costs and expenses for
greater consumption so this should lead to a
dual income family, where husband and wife
equally play an instrumental role in order to
meet the needs of the family. One of the big
cities to be studied is Denpasar.
Denpasar is the capital city of Bali
Province which has now developed into a
plural city. There are local and also migrant
communities. For the local communities, the
cultural values are inherent and internalized.
This is what makes the community and the
individuals within it exist as a unique entity.
They are unique because they live on two
different sides, but mutually interact. There
are the evolution of times and changes, as
well as cultures and customs on the other
side of the continuum. The people in
Denpasar in their daily lives exist on this
continuum. Each side of the continuum
presents varied roles for individuals that lead
to complex roles. This complexity is
experienced by women who are married and
working. Their role is not only that as a
mother who plays the expressive role but
also the instrumental role, and the social role
by customs. In the study of family dynamics,
the change of role is one of the factors that
results in changes to the family map known
as the couple map. Cohesion, flexibility and
communication are the three components
that make up the couple map (Olson &
Defrain, 2003).
Cohesion refers to the emotional
bond between family members. Cohesion
dimension consists of emotional bonding,
boundaries, coalitions, time, place, number
of friendships, decision-making, interests
and creations. The focus of cohesion is how
the family system works in balance between
the continuum of separateness and the
continuum of togetherness (Olson & Gorall,
2003). There are four levels of cohesion
namely disengaged, separated, connected,
and enmeshed. Disengaged and enmeshed
are classified into the unbalanced level.
Separated and connected on the other hand
are classified into the well-balanced level
that support the formation of couples and
families that can function optimally. The
characteristics of each level are described in
Figure 1. Circumplex Model: Couple and
Family Map. From the image, the
differences in the application of the
dimensions of cohesion in couples and
families can be observed.
Flexibility is the number of exchange
of leadership, roles, and rules in couples and
families. Flexibility dimension consists of
leadership,
negotiation
styles,
role
relationships, and rules. Olson (1999) stated
that the focus of flexibility is on how the
system is maintaining the balance between
stability and change. Flexibility consists of
four levels namely rigid, structured, flexible,
and chaotic. Structured and flexible are two
levels that are considered as encouraging a
relationship and family to function. Rigid
3
and chaotic, on the other hand, are usually
found in troubled families.
Couple map refers to a couple or
family map by taking into consideration the
level of cohesion and flexibility. The
interconnection between the levels of
cohesion and flexibility creates 16 types of
couples in the couple map. The
characteristics of the 16 types of couples are
illustrated by Figure 1. Circumplex Model:
Couple and Family Map.
Figure 1. Circumplex Model: Couple and
Family Map
the marriage and the extent of their marital
satisfaction. The results of this study are
expected to help the women who work and
have a complex role in life to still feel
contentment in their marriage. This study
also intends to provide an overview of the
factors that determine the marital satisfaction
and the optimal functioning of the family.
METHODS
This research is a quantitative
research using couple and family scale
(Olson & Defrain, 2003). The measuring
instrument is also supported with open
ended questions to obtain the data associated
with the experience of the subjects related to
the measured dimensions. The subjects were
50 women who are married and working in
Bali, based in Denpasar, and aged 25 to 54
years old. The data obtained from the
research subjects were analyzed using cross
tabulation analysis, descriptive statistics,
linier regression analysis, and coding
analysis.
RESULT
Source: Olson (in Kouneski, 2000)
Furthermore, Olson (2000) states that
the communication is present in the third
dimension of the couple and family map.
Communication is stated as the facilitating
dimension.
The
dimension
of
communication consists of listening skills,
speaking skills, self disclosure, clarity, focus
on a conversation, as well as respect and
acceptance.
Through the description concerning
the couple map, this study aims to see how
the image of the couple map is perceived by
Balinese women who are married and
working in their marriage. This study also
aims to see the patterns of communication in
Based on the analysis of descriptive
statistics, the majority of subjects are aged
35-44 years, as many as 23 people, followed
by 25-34 years as many as 18 people and as
many as 9 people are aged between 45-54
years. In terms of the age of marriage, most
of the subjects have been married for 1-5
years, the husband is older by 1-3 years, the
number of children is 1-2, with parenting
contribution of 71 % - 100 %. The research
subjects have mainly worked for more than
10 years with an income ranging from 1
million to 5 million Rupiah per month.
4
Table 1. Description of Research Subjects
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Their Age
Age
Frequency
Percent
25 – 34 years
18
36%
35 – 44 years
23
46%
45 – 54 years
9
18%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Their Marriage Age
Marriage Age
Frequency
Percent
1 - 5 years
16
32%
6 – 10 years
10
20%
11 – 15 years
9
18%
16 – 20 years
6
12%
21 – 25 years
5
10%
26 – 30 years
4
8%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Their Number of Children
The Number of
Frequency
Percent
Children
None
7
14%
1 – 2 children
32
64%
3 – 4 children
11
22%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Parenting Contribution
Contribution
Frequency
Percent
0% - 30%
9
18%
31% - 70%
15
30%
71% - 100%
26
52%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Education Level
Education
Frequency
Percent
High School
9
18%
3 year Diploma
7
14%
S1
28
56%
S2
6
12%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Age Difference from The Husband
Age Difference
Frequency
Percent
The husband is
2
4%
younger
Having the same age
10
20%
The husband is older
23
46%
1 – 3 years
The husband is older
15
30%
4 – 7 years old
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Occupation
Types of Occupation Frequency
Percent
Civil Servant
33
66%
Private Employee
17
34%
Distribution of Research Subjects By
Monthly Salary
Salary
Frequency
Percent
500 thousand – 1
1
2%
million
1 million – 2 million
13
26%
2 million – 5 million
35
70%
>5 million
1
2%
Distribution of Research Subjects
By Working Period
Working Period
Frequency
Percent
0 – 3 years
6
12%
4 – 6 years
9
18%
7– 10 years
5
10%
>10 years
30
60%
The distribution of cohesion level
frequency is illustrated in Table 2. Cohesion
Level Frequency. The table shows that there
is no subject in disengaged level. Enmeshed
level is the type that appears most often. It
means that most of the subjects have a great
emotional bond and demand high loyalty of
their partners. The subjects are very
dependent and reactive in terms of feelings
towards each other. At this enmeshed type,
the subjects cannot be separated from their
husbands or partners, and there is almost no
privacy at all. The subjects’ energy and
activity are focused exclusively on their
husbands. Enmeshed type in marriage is
usually characterized by lack of social
interaction and friendship (Olson & Gorall,
2003).
Table 2. Cohesion Level Frequency
Cohesion Level
Disengaged
Separated
Connected
Enmeshed
Total
Frequency
0
5
13
32
50
Percent
0%
10%
26%
64%
100%
5
Through regression testing, it was
found that the factors such as age, the age of
marriage, the number of children, the
parenting contribution, education level, age
difference from the husband, occupation,
working period, and salary all together
contributed as much as 19.3% on the
variation of the cohesion dimension.
On the dimension of flexibility,
flexible is the level that appears most often,
followed by the structured level. This
suggests that most of the subjects perceive
that in their marriage, the equalitarian
leadership pattern is applied with a
democratic approach in decision-making.
Negotiations are applied openly and do not
rule out the possibility of the involvement of
other family members such as children in
discussions for problem solving. Roles are
shared and dynamic in nature if required.
Role changes are possible in this level
(Olson & Gorall, 2003). The distribution of
flexibility level frequency can be observed
in Table 3. Flexibility Level Frequency.
Table 3. Flexibility Level Frequency
Flexibility Level
Rigid
Structured
Flexible
Chaotic
Total
Frequency
1
19
23
7
50
Percent
2%
38%
46%
14%
100%
Simultaneously, the variables of age,
age of marriage, number of children, the
parenting contribution, the age difference
with husband, level of education,
occupation, working period, and income
contributed 32.3 % to the variation in the
flexibility dimension.
Through the overview of the
distribution of subjects based on the level of
cohesion and flexibility, in Table 4.
Frequency Couple Type Map, it can be seen
that most of the subjects have the flexibly
enmeshed type. This means that most of the
subjects are in the mid range zone.
The subjects located on the mid
range zone are characterized by one
dimension functioning optimally but the
other dimension still needing attention. If
analyzed by the results of the distribution of
subjects based on cohesion and flexibility
dimensions, the research subjects are
optimal in the dimension of flexibility but
rather weak in the cohesion dimension in
which the subjects are largely at the
enmeshed level with the high level of
dependency on their partners.
The communication that exists
between the couples is open communication;
the couples always share their feelings and
thoughts, they focus on the topic, the
message they want to convey is clear, they
always talk to each other, they give positive
feedback, and there is growing respect and
acceptance towards their partner.
Table 4. Couple Map Type Frequency
Couple Map Types
Chaotically Disengaged
Chaotically Separated
Chaotically Connected
Chaotically Enmeshed
Flexibly Disengaged
Flexibly Separated
Flexibly Connected
Flexibly Enmeshed
Structurally Disengaged
Structurally Separated
Structurally Connected
Structurally Enmeshed
Rigidly Disengaged
Rigidly Separated
Rigidly Connected
Rigidly Enmeshed
Total
Frequency
0
0
0
7
0
0
4
19
0
5
8
6
0
0
1
0
50
Percent
0%
0%
0%
14%
0%
0%
8%
38%
0%
10%
16%
12%
0%
0%
2%
0%
100%
Through the linear regression
analysis, it was found out that the
contribution of the variables namely age, age
6
of marriage, number of children, parenting
contribution, the age difference with
husband, education level, occupation,
working period, and salary all together
contributed to 35.5 % to the couple map
variation.
Overall, most of the subjects were
satisfied with their marriage. Through the
coding analysis, the factors contributing to
the marriage satisfaction are respect and
acceptance, self disclosure, negotiation style,
roles relationship, loyalty, number of
children, and age of marriage. Respect and
acceptance is the most responses in this
study. The subjects stated that accept
partner’s characteristics is resource of
marital satisfaction. Subjects also felt that
self disclosure is resource of couple
happiness. In flexibility dimension, problem
solving style and negotiation opportunity are
the main factors that contributed to marital
satisfaction. These factors include how their
partner regard their career and how their
problem solving negotiation. Subject will
satisfied when they are given a great
opportunity for career by their husband.
They also need negotiation process in
solving problem. They need their husband
respect their idea, opinion, and alternatives
solution regarding to the problem.
In cohesion dimension, loyalty is a
main factor that contributed to marital
satisfaction. Loyalty is how far their partner
can be a trusted figure. Loyalty is also
amount of compliment they are given by
their husband. Two subjects also said that
children are resources of happiness and
marital satisfaction. Contribution of the
variables such as age, age of marriage,
number of children, parenting contribution,
age difference with husband, education
level, occupation, working period and salary
all together is 23.9 % towards the variation
in marital satisfaction.
In this study, it was found that
variations in marital satisfaction were
significantly determined by the patterns of
communication and the level of cohesion.
The opposite results were obtained on the
contribution of flexibility and the type of
couple map, where the two variables did not
contribute significantly to the marriage
satisfaction of the subjects.
Table 5. Contribution of Communication
Patterns, Cohesion, Flexibility, and Couple Map
Types to Marriage Satisfaction
Predictors
Active listening
Speaking skill
Self disclosure
Clarity
Attentive
listening
Respect
and
regards
Cohesion
Flexibility
Couple Map
R
.371
.670
.567
.736
.643
R2
0.137
0,449
0,322
0,541
0,413
F
7.639
39.058
22.785
56.655
33.839
Sig
.008
.000
.000
.000
.000
.607
0,369
28.030
.000
.600
.238
.111
0,360
0,057
0,012
27.009
2.890
.603
.000
.096
.441
From
the Table 5. Contribution of
Communication Patterns, Cohesion, Flexibility,
and Couple Map Types to Marriage Satisfaction,
it can be seen that the role of communication
pattern is very important in creating marital
satisfaction. The greatest contribution was
from the clarity, which is the clarity of the
message delivered by the couple. The
research subjects also consider that cohesion
is more important than flexibility in
generating marital satisfaction.
DISCUSSION
Most of the subjects in this study
perceive the couple map type in their
marriage as flexible enmeshed type. This
points out that they consider their
relationship with their husbands as very
close. All of their activities and attention are
devoted to their marriage. Emotionally, they
are very close to their partners, and often
there is no secret. They tend to be
dependent; the relationship with the husband
7
is very exclusive. Wives with this type of
couple map usually have a little social
networking outside of their marriage. The
positive point is that the rules are applied
flexibly; the husband and wife switch roles
in a flexible, not rigid manner. Similarly, in
decision making, everyone plays a role in it
and the decision making is done under
democratic principles.
The above description is in
accordance with the assumptions of this
research, in which for the working women,
the roles change flexibly. The type
leadership in any marriage is equalitarian,
namely there is equality between husband
and wife. Decision-making is not always
done by the husband who initially played the
instrumental role. Sometimes wives can also
act as leaders and be given the chance to
take a decision.
On the dimension of cohesion, the
results of the study showed that although the
dimension of flexibility, leadership and the
rules aspects are applied democratically,
wives still have an emotional bond with their
husbands. Although the wives are given an
equal number of roles, they still perceive
themselves to be dependent on their
husbands. The next interesting finding is that
although the research subjects have a
working status, they mainly focus on their
marriage and families. Most of them also
have a limited social network outside of
marriage and the family environment. These
findings are interesting for further
investigation regarding the breadth of social
networking of the working women. When
analyzed further, of course, it can also be
concluded that although the women are
working, they still give their primary
attention to their marriage and families.
The communication that exists
between the couples in this study is open,
focused, has clarity of the message, involves
speaking skills, ability to give positive
feedback, and there is respect and
acceptance between the couples.
The flexible enmeshed type belongs
to the mid range zone. In order to improve
the family functioning, the research subjects
need to cultivate their independence, try to
be less attached to their partners, look for a
variety of activities outside of the marriage
and the family as a means of self-privacy,
and extend social networking because no
matter what each woman needs to enjoy a
world of their own in addition to devotion to
their husbands and families. In contrast to
Olson & Defrain (2003), flexibility does not
contribute
significantly
to
marital
satisfaction. Subjects are more concerned
with aspects of communication and
cohesion.
The contribution of the variables
namely age, age of marriage, number of
children, the parenting contribution, age
difference with the husband, education level,
occupation, working period, and salary all
together was 23.9 % towards the variation in
marital satisfaction. The remaining 76.1 %
was explained by a number of other
variables that were not analyzed in this
study.
In order to develop the theory
concerning
the
couple
map,
the
implementation of cohesion and flexibility
and what causes cohesion contribution is
greater than the contribution of flexibility
need to be further studied. Another thing that
needs to be investigated is the individual
characteristic variables, and certain traits
that support the functioning of a marriage.
Given that the Indonesians, exclusively Bali
are mostly consisting of extended families, it
is necessary to also study the role of the
family, the picture of the relationship
between wives and their partners’ extended
families and their husbands’regional or
ethnic origin.
This study concludes that there are
two things that are capable of supporting
marital satisfaction, namely communication
patterns and the level of cohesion. On the
communication pattern variable, clarity of
8
the message and speaking skills are the two
main factors in communicating with the
biggest contribution in determining marriage
satisfaction.
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