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Essential Values for a Successful Marriage in Croatia

Josip Baloban ; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska
Gordan Črpić ; Katolički bogoslovni fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu, Zagreb, Hrvatska

Sažetak

The introduction to the article begins with some empirical information. The last decade in Croatia has seen an increase in liberalisation in the spheres of marital, family and sexual life, which has contributed to a crumbling of the institutions of marriage and the family. The divorce rate increased from 1965 until it stabilised in the 1980s - in Croatia every sixth (or in some years every fifth) marriage ends in divorce. Performs of communal living other than classical marriage there are no reliable statistics available. External factors (relatives, the Church and society) no longer guarantee the stability of marriage, but rather marital partners themselves must find their own motivation and basis for a stable marriage. Therefore, it is necessary to observe marriage within the context of changes in values in general, as well as in relation to Christian, or evangelical values. The article is in two parts. The first part analyses essential values according to a ranked list, which has been obtained from the 1999 European Values Study. Altogether, 16 values have been arranged in order by percentages obtained for the responses »very important« and »important«, 10 values have been analysed in more detail. In the second part of the article, latent values are analysed by method of factor analysis and four constructed indexes (orientation towards community, bond with partner, socio-cultural homogeneity and self-sufficiency). The article contains 21 tables. The most important values according to Croatian citizens are: mutual respect and appreciation; fidelity; understanding and tolerance; readiness to discuss problems that arise between husband and wife: children. Following this group of values in degree of importance are: frequent discussion of common interests; a good sex life; spending a lot of time together. The third group contains: living separately from parents; adequate income; sharing household tasks; good living conditions. The fourth and final group comprises; shared religious beliefs; being the same nationality; being from the same social class; shared political beliefs. The remarkably high percentage of respondents who rate the first five values cited as important, shows that these are key values for Croatian citizens. The fact that these values are an expression of individttalisation shows that Croatian citizens are highly individualised. Children as a key value (94,9% of respondents consider children to be an important value) are included in the first category. A »good sex life« is also ranked highly, in seventh place (93,8%). Some of the died values have been analysed along with a set of socio-demographic variables.
Although the value mutual respect and appreciation is considered to be very important by the whole population, it still means more to women than to men, particularly women in the 18 to 34 age group. Fidelity as a deep anthropological and at the same time fundamental Christian value, is of more importance to those in whose life God plays a more significant role, tο women, and to those who more regularly attend mass. 4/5 of regular churchgoers and two thirds of the rest consider fidelity to be »very important«, from which the authors conclude that these values are supra-confessional and supra-worldview, although they receive particular emphasis and confirmation among believers. Almost all respondents (99,3%) ranked understanding and tolerance as very important to the success of a marriage. The authors also warn that this value is highly ranked, independent of its concrete realisation. And here women, especially younger generations, show a higher sensibility than men. The importance of a functional and stable marriage to Croatian citizens is shown by the results that 98.9% of respondents consider ability and willingness to discuss mutual problems to be an important value. Its high ranking reveals that it is more important to younger respondents, to respondents living in bigger cities, and to those more highly educated. 94.9% of respondents consider having children to be important to a marriage. According to the research done in Croatia in 1977, 91.1% of respondents said the same, and this value was in fourth place. This value is analysed in another article.
The second group consists of three values. Only one has been analysed. Particular attention should be paid to the »important« and »very important« categories for speaking about common interests. It is interesting to note that the younger portion of the population more frequently classifies this value as »very important«. Furthermore, the importance of this value increases parallel to age group. While 37.5% of the oldest generation rate this value as »very important«, 50.3% of the youngest generation choose the same rating.
In the final group of four values which can together be considered within the context of cultural homogeneity, three are analysed; having the same religious beliefs, being the same nationality, agreement on political matters. For this group of values, two interpretations need to be taken into consideration. On the one hand, citizens do not consider these values to play as crucial a role in the success of a marriage as the preceding values. On the other hand, the percentage of respondents showing an affiliation for these values must not be underestimated. For example, 65.8% of respondents rate shared religious beliefs as an important value. This conviction is particularly important to regular and periodical churchgoers. It is less important to occasional churchgoers, and least important to non-churchgoers of which 2/3 rate this value as important. Sharing the same religious beliefs is more important to the older than the younger generations. More than 55% of Croatian citizens consider being the same nationality to be important for a successful marriage, and 43.2% rate it as not important. Being the same nationality is rated as important by the majority of regular and periodical churchgoers, while every second occasional churchgoer and every third non churchgoer rates this value as important. For nearly one third of those who attend mass monthly or more often, this value is rated as unimportant. It is important to consider this value within the historical-social and socio-political matrix of the last decade. Having the same social background is no longer as important as it used to be, however, it has not lost its importance altogether if 1/3 of respondents rate it as important for a successful marriage. It is of particular interest that agreement on political matters is the least important value for Croatian citizens. 83.6% of the younger generations consider this value to be unimportant for a successful marriage, while 29.0% of the oldest generation consider this value to be important.
By factor analysis four factors were obtained. Orientation towards community is an important factor for a portion of the population. A sense of community does not occur unilaterally, but through bilateral communication between husband and wife. Community is a dynamic, dialogical and tolerant duad. Therefore, this factor comprises: spending time together; speaking about common interests; sharing household tasks; discussing common problems in the relationship, in the second factor, bond with partner, children are included as an important element of a successful marriage. The third factor, socio-cultural homogeneity, comprises the following variables: shared religious beliefs; shared social and national background; agreement on political matters. The socio-cultural context in Croatia is an interesting one given that the first three values are traditional and are more or less confessionally and nationally a reflection of a homogenous environment. Their importance is decreasing now, but is not entirely negligible, as in the last ten years they gained in importance as a result of the war. Authors call the fourth factor self-sufficiency, because it focuses on the specific needs of the autocracy of married life, as a condition for the success of a marriage. In this factor, the Croatian population follows European trends, which are: as much distance as possible from parents; personal and marital financial independence; good living conditions, and these values for many gradually transform themselves from the desired ideal into concrete reality.
The authors conclude that in Croatia there is a slight increase in the importance of values connected with love, in other words with the bond between marital partners. They believe that the high rating of the above-mentioned values should be observed from two points of view: on the one hand optimistically, because these values contain human ideals, and on the other hand, social reluctance towards these values essential to people and marriage leads to a lot of personal and marital frustration. They emphasise the need to revitalise asceticism (in education and acceptance of values) which adds a new interpretation suitable for contemporary times. In the end, they point out that among essential contemporary and Christian values there is a deep connection, either transparent or latent, which provides an opportunity for the Church to influence the relationship between marital partners.

Ključne riječi

values; marriage; love; community; success; asceticism

Hrčak ID:

31165

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/31165

Datum izdavanja:

15.11.2000.

Podaci na drugim jezicima: hrvatski

Posjeta: 3.189 *