Researchers used data from the National Vital Statistics "100 Years of Marriage and Divorce Statistics United States 1867-1967," the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/National Center for Health Statistics, and the US Census Bureau.
The project was supported with a grant from the US Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Planning and Evaluation.
Editor's Note: In addition, co-habiting — or as we would have termed it years ago, living together — seems to have produced some disallusionment of its own:
Disillusionment in Cohabiting and Married Couples; A National Study
Sylvia Niehuis, Alan Reifman, Kyung-Hee Lee; Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX, USA. Sylvia Niehuis, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX 79409-1230, USA. Email: sylvia.niehuis@ttu.edu
Abstract
Using a national sample of married (N = 752) and cohabiting (N = 323) couples, we examined the association between disillusionment and self-perceived breakup likelihood. Because disillusionment had not previously been studied in cohabiting couples, its extent and consequences for them were not known. We found considerable disillusionment in cohabiters, their mean level exceeding that of married couples. Based on a conceptual model of relationship change, we tested further whether disillusionment would predict self-perceived breakup likelihood, controlling for relationship satisfaction, commitment, and length. Furthermore, based on assumptions about barriers to leaving different types of relationships, we examined whether disillusionment’s association with breakup likelihood would be stronger in cohabiting than married couples. Results supported disillusionment’s ability to predict perceived breakup likelihood, even with rigorous controls, and the greater strength of this association in cohabiters. In addition, we found a significantly positive partner effect: Male partners’ disillusionment predicted female partners’ breakup likelihood.
From the Journal of Family Issues
Pages: 1 · 2
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