International Social Work 48(3): 325–340 Sage Publications: London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi DOI: 10.1177/0020872805051735 Factors in the marital relationship in a changing society A Taiwan case study * April Chiung-Tao Shen The convergence of eastern Confucian and western individualistic ideologies in the 20th century in Taiwan had a significant impact on family structures and processes. Among the most dramatic changes was the increased occurrence of marital breakdowns. The divorce rate (47%) in Taiwan is the highest of the Asian countries and has kept rising dramatically since the 1970s (ROC Ministry of Interior, 2005). The deleterious effects of marital distress on physical health, psychological well-being and workers’ productivity are reliably documented (Fincham and Bradbury, 1987; Stanley et al., 1995). For traditional Chinese wives, discord and unhappiness are generally turned inward to the self and are reflected in a high suicide rate rather than in divorce statistics. Suicide has been the traditional form of protest for Chinese women who find life unbearable inside their matrimonial bonds (Ho, 1987). The high divorce rate and the adverse impact of marital distress continue to spur on the studies of marital stability and satisfaction (Fowers et al., 1996). In addition, the components of marriage quality are unavoidably culture-bound, as the function of marriage varies across cultures (Adams, 1988). Although hundreds of studies have explored the quality of marriages, few studies have focused on Asian countries. The experience of some western societies shows that along with April Chiung-Tao Shen is Assistant Professor in the Department of Social Work, National Taiwan University, 1 Roosevelt Rd, Sec. 4, Taipei, Taiwan, 106 ROC. [email: acshen@ntu.edu.tw] * isw