Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Living together first - can ruin marriage


Fox News

Couples who shack up before tying the knot are more likely to get divorced than their counterparts who don't move in together until marriage, a new study suggests.

Upwards of 70 percent of U.S. couples are cohabiting these days before marrying, the researchers estimate.

The study, published in the February issue of the Journal of Family Psychology, indicates that such move-ins might not be wise.

And it's not because you start to get on one another's nerves. Rather, the researchers figure the shared abode could lead to marriage for all the wrong reasons.

"We think that some couples who move in together without a clear commitment to marriage may wind up sliding into marriage partly because they are already cohabiting," said lead researcher Galena Rhoades of the University of Denver.

Couples might also be nudged into nuptials because of a joint lease or shared ownership of Fido — along with other practicalities.[...]

2 comments :

  1. This counter-intuitive phenomenon is not new, it was first noted in the 80’s and many later researches confirmed it.

    The flip side is that less publicized researches say that couples who live together have more frequent and intense sex than married couples.

    Well, Mayim genuvim yimtaku

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  2. There are certainly a lot of intuitive reasons to suspect that living together beforehand can mess up a marriage. However, I doubt that a true causal relationship can be found by researchers. Too many variables. Obviously, those that refrain from premarital relations, have a certain view of the sanctity or roll of marriage that others don't. So is it the previous living arrangement causing problems or the overall attitude, or any other number of other factors?

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