Understanding Happiness and Psychological Wellbeing Among Young Married Women in Rural India

The practice of early marriage is deeply rooted in the socio-cultural structure and is well prevalent in rural India despite marriage-prohibiting laws. The paper examines happiness and psychological well-being and its influence by various aspects of marriage among young married women. Multistage sampling technique was used to interview 654 married women, 13-24 years in rural West Bengal. Mean age at marriage was found to be 16 years. One-third reported adjustment problem initially after marriage. Logistic regression analysis results showed marital happiness was positively influenced by less spousal difference in opinion; couple educational status, able to adjust marital problems and wish to have same life partner given an option of partner selection. No significant association was found between happiness and type of marriage and husband's currently staying with wife.