Gender-Specific Latent Profiles of Perceived Importance and Fulfillment across Marital Domains and Quality of Couple Relationships

This study identified latent profiles of married men and women based on their perceived importance of and fulfillment with multiple domains of marital life, and examined the antecedents and outcomes of these latent profiles. Marital life was conceptualized as four domains: economic stability, sexual satisfaction, intimacy and communication, and mutual growth support. It obtained data from 380 married women and 374 married men who had participated in the 2024 Seoul Family Survey. Latent profile analysis identified four profiles for women: (a) slightly high importance–high fulfillment, (b) high emotional importance–high fulfillment, (c) high importance–low fulfillment, and (d) moderate importance–low fulfillment. Three profiles were identified for men: (a) high importance–high fulfillment, (b) moderate importance–moderate fulfillment, and (c) high importance–low fulfillment. For women, household income, having children, fairness in household and childcare division of labor, and the spouse’s effort to be a good partner significantly predicted membership. For men, subjective socioeconomic status, egalitarian gender-role attitudes, and efforts by both oneself and the spouse to become good partners predicted profile membership. Across genders, individuals in the high importance–low fulfillment profile reported the lowest marital happiness and the highest negative interactions with their spouses. These findings suggest that discrepancies between the importance placed on marital domains and marital fulfillment are closely related to marital quality. The results highlight the need for gender-specific marital intervention programs that promote realistic expectations and support spouses’ sense of marital fulfillment.