Tradition of Early Mariage: Psychological Well-being of Female Adolescents of Madurese Ethnicity

Abstract

This study aims to explore the psychological well-being of Madurese adolescent girls in facing the tradition of early marriage. Early marriage remains a strong cultural practice within the Madurese community and often places young girls in psychologically challenging situations. The research employs a descriptive quantitative approach using the Psychological Well-Being Scale developed by Diener et al. (2010), which has a Cronbach’s Alpha reliability coefficient of 0.87. The research subjects consisted of 105 Madurese adolescent girls selected through purposive sampling. The analysis results showed that the majority of participants (47.5 percents) fell into the moderate category of psychological well-being. This indicates that while the adolescents are able to maintain basic psychological functions and form adequate social relationships, they have not yet fully developed in areas such as autonomy, personal growth, and self-actualization. Cultural factors, parental education level, and social support were identified as contributing variables to the psychological well-being of the participants. These findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive approaches in designing psychosocial intervention programs, as well as the need for family education to support the psychological development of adolescent girls within a cultural context that still upholds early marriage practices.