Marriage brings happiness to men, even to those less interested in marriage, and most women, although women with less traditional expectations did not report an increase in happiness, new research suggests.
Marriages in Taiwan last year reached a record low of 114,606, while divorces hit a 20-year low of 47,887, government data show.
Investigating the trend, National Chengchi University Department of Sociology associate professor Hu Li-chung (胡力中) analyzed data from a longitudinal Academia Sinica study on adolescent development.
Photo: CNA
The 17-year study of 5,600 students from 40 junior-high schools in Taipei, New Taipei City and Yilan County asked the students about their happiness at different stages in life, among other questions.
Hu found that reported happiness was higher overall among married people than unmarried people.
By gender, 56.2 percent of married men said they were “very happy,” compared with only 39.4 percent of unmarried men who said so.
Among women, the figure dropped to 44.9 percent and 35.4 percent respectively.
Happiness in marriage also increased over time, with 47.2 percent of people saying they were happy in 2011, which grew to 51.8 percent in 2017.
However, the 2011 figure was higher than the average number of people who said they were happy that year, suggesting that happiness is linked to marriage.
The top reason men said they wanted to get married was to start a family, which was different from reasons cited by women, who said they wanted children or to make their parents happy.
A considerable number of respondents from both genders said they would not get married to “avoid gossip,” a factor that has decreased in importance over time, Hu said.
Instead, more people are choosing to get married for personal reasons, although meeting parental expectations was a major contributing factor, he said, citing the 30 to 40 percent of women and nearly half of men who said making their parents happy was a major factor in their decision.
The effect of marriage on happiness also appeared to be split by gender, Hu said.
Marriage usually had a positive impact on male happiness, but for women, only those who had a higher “probability” of getting married became happier, while happiness did not change among those with a low probability.
The probability of marriage relates to family background and personal values, Hu said.
For example, if a woman identifies with traditional familial norms, marriage would bring her more happiness, as it is the only type of close relationship that satisfies these expectations, he said.
On the other hand, women who do not identify with traditional norms can find the same fulfillment from other arrangements, such as coliving or remaining single, he said.
Daughters of men with a university education or higher often have high career goals and marry later, meaning that getting married in their early 30s has a smaller effect on their happiness, Hu added.
SCENARIOS: A potential conflict with Beijing would not be similar to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and China would target energy and food supplies, a researcher said China is likely to continue using economic and cyberoperations against Taiwan to force it to capitulate without resorting to a military attack, Fox News reported yesterday, citing the outcome of a tabletop exercise. Washington-based think tank the Foundation for Defense of Democracies (FDD) earlier this month held a tabletop exercise in Taipei focusing on Beijing’s use of economic and cybercoercion against Taiwan. The FDD mentioned an “anaconda strategy,” in which Beijing would likely use cyberwarfare and disinformation campaigns followed by a blockade or other measures to strangulate Taiwan, rather than attempting an invasion, the report said. A large-scale cyberattack would be
HSINCHU CASES: Five people among 35 who were reported being sick were still in hospital after eating at a vendor in a market in Jhubei, the local health agency said Thirty-five people have sought medical treatment for acute symptoms after allegedly eating banh mi (Vietnamese sandwiches) from a vendor in Jhubei City (竹北), the Hsinchu County Public Health Bureau said yesterday. The bureau said that since Saturday, it has received several reports of suspected food poisoning from hospitals. The vendor has been ordered to temporarily suspend its business, it said, adding that tests were being conducted to determine whether the people had food poisoning, with results expected in about two weeks. A preliminary investigation showed that the people who sought treatment had recently eaten banh mi at a vendor at a retail market
GOOD MODEL: Speaking at his book launch, Law said that Taiwan is the most democratic Chinese-speaking country, which is why Hong Kongers relocated here China has suffocated Hong Kong’s civil society and its next target could be Taiwan, Nathan Law (羅冠聰), cofounder of the disbanded pro-democracy Hong Kong political party Demosisto, said in Taipei yesterday. Law made the remarks at a launch in Taipei for his book When the Wind Blows — the Struggles for Freedom of Hong Kong (時代推著我們前行:羅冠聰的香港備忘錄). Law has been living in the UK since he fled Hong Kong in 2020, and the book is about his fighting for the cause of freedom in the area. He was granted political asylum in 2021. “Fleeing is a long and distressing process, but it also
IMITATING OTHERS? Tsai Ing-wen’s office said the former president rents a commercial unit for her personal office and had never used election funds to purchase real estate Taiwan People’s Party (TPP) Chairman Ko Wen-je (柯文哲) yesterday confirmed that he used about NT$43 million (US$1.35 million) from his presidential election subsidy to purchase an office unit near the Legislative Yuan in May. Ko made the remarks after Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) Taipei City Councilor Lin Yen-feng (林延鳳) earlier in the day told a news conference that she received a tip-off that the TPP chairman had purchased a 48.76 ping (161.2m2) office unit at Jinan Building (濟南大樓), a commercial building in Taipei’s Zhongzheng District (中正). Lin said that Ko purchased the unit on May 10, paying about NT$43 million in cash,