Li, Xiaohui2014-10-282014-10-282013-08https://hdl.handle.net/11299/167239University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. August 2013. Major: Family Social Science. Advisors: Drs. Paul C. Rosenblatt & Catherine A. Solheim. 1 computer file (PDF); vii, 79 pages.Using a sample of 7,567 Chinese premarital couples (living in Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, and Malaysia) who completed the PREPARE inventory before marriage, the current study indicated that Chinese premarital couples exhibit four relational patterns: Vitalized, Harmonious, Traditional, and Conflicted. These four couple types, which were developed through phases including an exploratory analysis of 500 couples, a further analysis of a primary sample (3,567 couples), and a confirmed validation analysis using 3,500 couples, were almost identical to the four premarital types found in a U.S. sample using similar cluster analytic procedure. For Chinese premarital couples, the Traditional type was the largest group, while for European American premarital couples, the Vitalized type was the largest group. There were few differences in Chinese background related to the four types. However, the longer the males were planning to wait for having children, the more likely they were Conflicted couples; the more negative females' parents and friends reaction towards their relationship, the more likely they were Conflicted couples. Having identified the four Chinese premarital couple types may benefit efforts to help with Chinese marital preparation and may be of help to therapists working with Chinese couples.enFamily social scienceThesis or Dissertation