Relationship satisfaction in African-Hungarian families

Mixed families and marriages are becoming more and more common in Hungary. In the majority of African-Hungarian relationships, it is the man who is of African origin. A significant proportion of such couples live in another European country. In our questionnaire survey we studied Hungarian women who lived with a partner of African origin.  We sought to find out how satisfied they were with their relationship, what difficulties and positive aspects they faced. The majority of respondents felt comfortable in traditional gender roles. The biggest problem in raising children was having to cope with child-related tasks alone. Relationship satisfaction was significantly related to the extent to which the values of the couple’s members were aligned and to the African father’s involvement in childcare and child-rearing.  Respondents’ satisfaction was more strongly influenced by the father’s involvement in child-rearing than in childcare. According to most respondents, the same cannot be expected of African men as of Hungarian men. Trying to understand each other and accepting each other can help to maintain a harmonious relationship. A common set of values is important for relationship satisfaction, which can be similar even for partners from different cultural backgrounds.

Available in Hungarian: Komolafe Cinderella, Komolafe Magdolna (2019) Párkapcsolati elégedettség az afrikai-magyar családokban. Kapocs, 2019 3-4. 138-150.