A Qualitative Study on Factors Contributing to Maintaining Long-Term Marriage in Middle Age

This study explored the factors contributing to the long-term marriages of middle-aged married men and women who had been married for over 20 years through narrative inquiry. Participants included three men and three women, all married for over 20 years after their first marriage and with children. The analysis was based on Clandinin and Connelly's three-dimensional exploratory space. The analysis revealed that the factors contributing to the participants' long-term marriages were structured around the metaphor of “a lighthouse”. Contributing factors were classified into individual system level, marital family system level, and social system level. ‘Solid foundation’ and ‘the lighthouse keeper’s dedication’ in the individual system level, ‘light of trust’, ‘light of hope’, and ‘light of communication’ in the marital family system level, ‘flash of god and relationship’, and ‘the energy that moves the lighthouse’ in the social system level were discussed.