Life satisfaction of middle-generation Hmong husbands and wives
Author(s):
Sakulnamarka, Doaungkamol
Format:
Thesis
Degree granted:
Ph.D.
Publisher:
Ann Arbor : University of Minnesota, 1992.
Pages:
240
Language:
English
Abstract:
On the basis of Rice and Tucker's conceptual framework for quality of life, this study investigates the relationships among selected demographic variables, contextual variables, domain satisfaction variables with overall life satisfaction for 30 middle-generation Hmong husbands and wives who resided in the Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota area. Data were collected in face-to-face interviews using an audio-tape recorder. Both qualitative and quantitative methodologies were incorporated. Husbands and wives were interviewed separately by interviewers who spoke the Hmong and Lao languages. The questionnaire was extensively tested for use with a Hmong sample. The study revealed satisfaction of Hmong husbands and wives with most aspects of their education, health, employment, marriage, family life, and with their overall life in quantitative responses. Hmong wives were much more satisfied with their life as a whole than the husbands. The narrative responses, however, revealed the specific sources of their dissatisfaction. A positive relationship existed between the perception of safety in neighborhood, satisfaction with education, health, employment, family life, and overall life satisfaction for Hmong husbands. For Hmong wives, a negative relationship existed between years of schooling in the U.S., employment status, and time living in the U.S., and their overall life satisfaction. A positive relationship existed, however, between health status perception, satisfaction with employment, family life, and overall life satisfaction for Hmong wives. There was a strong positive relationship between family life and life satisfaction for both Hmong husbands and wives. Both the quantitative data and the qualitative narrative responses indicated the importance of family life to Hmong life satisfaction. Three patterns of Hmong couple life satisfaction were found: high life satisfaction couples, conflicted life satisfaction couples, and highly conflicted life satisfaction couples. The narrative responses indicated that husbands viewed life on a larger scale while their wives were primarily concerned with the family.