Understanding marriage
Subtitle: a Hong Kong case study
By: Katherine P. H. Young.
Publisher: Hong Kong University Press
Published: 1995
Place of publication: Hong Kong
Language: eng
Number of pages: 210
Subjects: Marriage -- Hong Kong.
Description: Harmony has traditionally been upheld as the essential element in a happy marriage for Chinese couples. Do married people in contemporary Hong Kong still subscribe to a concept of harmony in marriage that is achieved when the husband leads and the wife follows? How relevant are traditional precepts that emphasize harmony, complementarity and generational continuity? This book examines changes that have occurred in the marital relationship in Hong Kong today. It is based on a marital study which endeavoured to find answers from married people themselves. They were invited to review their experiences and to identify what they considered to be essential for a quality relationship. To draw on such private information, self report scales were adapted and tested as a means to enable married people to convey their personal experiences. From the descriptions of the husbands and wives, the author suggests that as 'affective individualism' is used to characterize modern marriages in the West, 'affective familism' could well be adopted to characterize contemporary marriages among the Chinese in Hong Kong.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. [191]-200) and index.