Exploratory Study on the Factors Affecting Marital Satisfaction among Remarried Korean Couples

This study examined 157 remarried couples with middle or high school children to identify factors affecting marital satisfaction. Sociodemographic factors such as sex, family income, type of remarried family, and presence of a biological child of the remarried couple were identified as independent variables associated with remarried couples’ marital satisfaction. The results of an analysis of the effects of all factors on marital satisfaction indicated that role ambiguity was found to be the most significant factor explaining the level of remarried couples’ marital satisfaction, followed by role conflict, conjugal communication, family boundary ambiguity, family support, and type of remarriage in descending order of statistical significance. Concluding practical recommendations for social work are made based on these results.

Boundary Ambiguity in Stepfamilies

Family boundary ambiguity refers to a lack of clarity as to who is in and who is out of the family system. Few studies have examined this concept in the stepfamily context, which is problematic because such definitional problems hinder our understanding of close relationships in stepfamilies. Based on a nationally representative sample of first-married, remarried, and cohabiting couples with minor children, this study investigates the prevalence and nature of boundary ambiguity in stepfamilies (families that include children from previous unions) and the relationship between boundary ambiguity and couples’ relationship quality and stability. Results suggest that boundary ambiguity is much more prevalent in stepfamilies than original two-parent families and that boundary ambiguity is associated with the structure of the stepfamily. Boundary ambiguity is negatively associated with the quality of the couple’s relationship and stability of the union, but only from the perspective of wives and female partners.