Marriage Success and The Psychology Behind It

In the introduction to the article, the authors David Gately and Andrew Schwebel best wrote “Karl Zinsmeister uses studies of children and divorce to argue against the contention made by many parents that it is better to divorce than to rear children in a marriage with conflict. He maintains that children’s sense of stability and family structure supersedes parental needs.” Throughout the article Zinsmeister uses the headings “Fear and Loathing of Divorce Among the Young”, “Short and Long-Term effects of Divorce on Children”, and “A Catalogue of Behavioral Changes” as a platform to prove/explain his opinions and back them by research.

Modern, contemporary society’s mindset on marriage has shifted considerably over the years. Some research has noted the increase in early sexual experiences, greater acceptance of cohabitation and the increase in narcissistic tendencies, are complicating and muddying the ideals of what marriage means to people today. Research done on this subject resulted in several studies that found that spouses who did not believe that marriage would last forever, were less likely to commit to the relationship financially and were more likely to have extramarital affairs.

In “For better, for worse: Marriage means something different now,” Stephanie Coontz reveals the worldwide changes in people’s attitudes and behaviors towards marriage. According to Coontz, education and the social norms are the reasons why marriage has become nonessential. Being single and going through a divorce are more acceptable now. The motivations of marriage have turned from economic dependence into personal willingness. In fact, Coontz’s words make me wonder the true meaning of marriage. Even though the meaning has changed over times, I believed that I still hope to get married.

Another significant two-part longitudinal study took place over a 17 year period and examined a sample of 85 children of divorced families. Parents were initially interviewed in 1980 regarding marriage quality. Interviews later determined which marriages dissolved and the conflict levels of those that had not. In 1992 and 1997 interviews with the children of these divorced families were given to determine their physiological well-being,

They surveyed 115 cohabitators from working lower and middle classes. The article describes how the economy effects marital decision making, it also shows how these people perceive financial issues as important to marriage. Also, that people think that marriage will change their lives, people think marriage should only occurs once finically set. The investigation and methods they use to complete this article was in-depth. They use racially and ethnically diverse people of both genders. Manning, Smock and Porter take in different aspects like education, personal income, and employment statuses. Findings show that income varies significantly by race/ethnicity and gender. The survey is adequate for gathering

Over the past decades, how Americans perceive the marital relationship greatly reformed, illuminating society’s values. In the past, marriage use to represent a legal contract to bear children and acquire finances, but today, “In all too many communities in the US, especially poor and minority ones, marriage is a retreat” (Wilcox et al., 2005, p. 5). Rather than observing marriage as an obligation, Americans now perceive a marriage to entail intimate commitments between affectionate partners. America transformed its values from the society and family to the individual level. Of the major values changes, which occurred over the past decades, this article exemplifies an increase in single-parent homes, cohabiting, and divorce. Due to America’s expansion of individualism and materialism, individuals no longer perceive their marriage as life long commitments. This transformation occurred because of a shift in societal values; society no longer places stigma on divorce and single parents, which aided in the increasing numbers of marital shifts. In fact, Americans tend to enter marriages with unrealistic expectations, expecting their partner to fulfill all of their needs without conflict. It stands as our unrealistic expectations and perceptions that caused a shift in marriages.

A survey of 14000 adults states in ‘A Guide to Family Issues: The Marriage Advantage’ that marriage was a pertinent factor contributing to happiness and satisfaction with forty percent of the married individuals being happy as opposed to 25 percent of either single or cohabiting individuals. The same study shows that ninety eight percent of never married respondents wished to marry and out of those 88% believed that it should be a lifelong commitment. Even though, divorce rates are rising numerous researches show that young people aspire to have a lasting marriage.

Given are the charts illustrating the proportion of marriage and divorce in USA over the period 1970 to 2000 and the marital status of mature Americans in 1970 and 2000. It is apparent that the percentage of people getting married declined steadily for many reason indicated by the chart showing marital status of adult Americans.

(Thornton & Young-Demarco, 2001). Because of the lack of optimism in the 1970s, young women were not as enthusiastic about marriage as previous generations. Because of social, political, and economic struggles and advancements, family values changed between these two

The study of marriage and divorce has been a very interesting topic for many psychologists and in the article “Premarital Sexual Behavior and Attitudes Toward Marriage and Divorce among Young Women as a Function of Their Mothers' Marital Status”, Keri L. Kinnaird and Meg Gerrard study the way young women view dating, marriage issues, and divorce. Previous research has stated that issues with marriage is carried down through the generations and that the marital status of one’s parent will likely determine their marital status as adults. Previous research has also stated that children from divorced families view divorce more positively than children from intact families. The research conducted

It examined the ways in which cohesion may impact children’s adjustment to parental divorce, and its effect on their future romantic relationships. This research ultimately dispels the myth that all divorces cause the generational transmission effect. The generational transmission effect is concluded to universally exist, but there are definitely many other factors that come into play when it comes to divorce. It was concluded that just because a couple divorces, it does not mean their children are certain to get a divorce, but they do face a higher chance. The idea that divorce is passed from generation to generation, ultimately depends on levels of conflict and cohesion. All five articles I had chosen concern the children of divorced parents and their future romantic relationships. They are all fairly recent sociological articles, with studies done by sociologists. Some studies from the articles I have chosen argue that divorce makes a strong impact on children’s future relationships, whereas others say there is little to no impact. Through my studying and research I have come to find that in each article there is one common factor in their findings: the outcome of the children’s relationship depended on how the divorce went, as well as how the children were able to cope with the divorce. Levels of conflict and cohesion were predominant

Such perspectives are theories, or a set of logically interrelated statements that attempts to describe, explain, and predict social events. I would like to take a deeper look at the United State’s current rising divorce rate and its affect on our adolescents, from an interactionist perspective. Interactionists viewpoints are based on the assumption that society is the sum of the meaning of the interactions of the individuals and groups. This perspective focuses on behavior or on each person’s interpretation or definition of a given situation. The relation of divorce to this macro-level interactionist theory is that divorce is primarily dependent on humans living in cohesive groups or not, and communicating and its affects on the members involved. Research shows that the wrenching act of divorce and the loss of that original unit and the hope tied to it is often irreplaceable for a child and has a permanent affect of cataclysmic proportions (Preston 12). And children of divorced households, appear to show higher expectations of divorce and to have higher divorce rates later in life, and less desire to have children (“How Might Divorce Affect My Child’s Behavior?” 2000). Thus completing the downward spin of the deterioration in family units and the increase of the divorce rate.

It was surprising to see the correlation between education and marriage. One quote in particular that caught my eye was “Perceptions of marriage… vary by educational level, with the highly educated feeling significantly more positively about marriage than the less educated population” (Sharp). This confirms that those who can clearly rationalize the advantages and disadvantages of the given choices will choose marriage. However, as our textbook points out, cohabitation is on the rise (168) and is becoming a trend.

Marriage concept undoubtedly comes from your own parents. Who else’s marriage are your children watching day in and day out growing up? It is no surprise that a child, whose parents stay married, will generally have better relationships themselves. Marriage has a huge effect on daughters. A problem facing many young women today is premarital sex and parenthood. CIVITAS agrees:

The evolution of marriage has transformed a great deal overtime, and today, is in a unique stage. It is often that couples choose to live together before tying the not. This is called cohabitation. During this time period, couples are able to experience one another at the next level. They learn more about their significant other than ever before, and it is a great assessor as to what the future holds for the two. Whereas cohabitation is widely accepted today, this was not always the case. It wasn’t until almost a half a century ago that it was frowned upon and very rare except among the poor. The shift in acceptance on cohabitation began in 1970. This new relationship stage has significantly altered couples’ views on marriage. A half century ago, it was normal for couples to marry at a young age, coming right out of school, with the understanding that they would have to deal with tight budgets until achieving financial stability whereas couples nowadays postpone marriage until after getting to a comfortable and satisfying state of financial stability. “Marriage was the start of young adulthood in the mid-twentieth century; today it is often the end of it.” Cohabitation, a somewhat controversial and popular topic in today’s society may be viewed in many ways; it has come a long way in nearly half a century and is a growing trend among couples today for various reasons that may or may not