Perceptions and expectations of happiness among married couples in Turkish families: City of Sakarya sample

In this study, perceptions of happiness between spouses in Turkish families, the values of happiness, and changes of expectations in marriage were examined. It is aimed to put forward the positive values of family within the framework of happiness as a way of reducing the negative impact of rapidly changing values and cultural influences from the outside world on the Turkish family institution, and to form a new family model which is happier, and based on a combination of contemporary experience and practices that is suitable to the traditional Turkish family structure. In the study, a mixed method, comprising quantitative and qualitative research was used. In the quantitative research one hundred married couples were given one-to-one questionnaires. The obtained data was then analysed by SPSS software. The qualitative research was conducted using one-to-one interview forms. Ten married men and ten married women were interviewed. The grounded theory method was applied. The data was analysed by descriptive analysis. In the quantitative and qualitative studies, the sample number was reached with the snowball method. According to the findings, spouses in Turkish families perceive happiness as coming from living with people they love. Family is the most important happiness value, and its first function is to shelter individuals with love, joy and peace. The expectations in marriage are clear in a marriage made in a traditional way, and by those who marry via a premarital dating process. Apart from that, in marriages made in different ways to a lesser extent, differences occur in expectations. The results of the study brought out that the Turkish family is a family caught between a modern and traditional structure. In this type of family, corruption, individualism, isolation and selfishness can predominate. These difficulties are reflected in the intra family relationships. To be happy, there is a longing for the conventional family and a shift towards traditional values. The conservatism in Turkish families is increasing. One of the important ways to enhance happiness and the functioning in the Turkish family is to revitalize what is traditional and starting to disappear, those indigenous and humanitarian values, but also to take account of contemporary experience and practices that are adaptable to the Turkish family structure.