The potential consequences of hooking up go beyond STDs and other short-term problems. In fact, there may be a connection between increased rates of infidelity in young married couples and the college culture of hooking up.  Facing these trends, Teresa Downing-Matibag has started communities that discuss relationships and intimacy to educate and inform students of […]

Breaking down the divorce rates by career, Michael Aamodt and colleagues found that dancers, bartenders, massage therapists, casino workers, telephone operators, nurses, and home healthy aides had the highest risk for divorce. Those with the lowest risk for divorce included engineers, optometrists, clergy, and podiatrists.  Read more.

Even if we married what we consider to be our “soul mate,” they will change and grow throughout the relationship just as we will, perhaps even grow right out of the “soul mate” category. So instead of focusing on changing your partner to be more compatible, you need to focus on changing yourself.  Read more.

Of all cohabitation relationships that end, sixty-one percent end in marriage. Researchers suggest that this means cohabitation has not replaced marriage as the preferred outcome for most couples. As time passes more and more cohabiters get married to each other, yet when compared to those in first marriages without cohabitation, cohabiters divorce rates are much […]

The Demos researchers say children living with both biological parents are twice as likely to develop the most useful character traits as those living with lone parents or a step-parent. Application, self-regulation, and empathy are the three most important traits for a child's chances of improving their economic lot. Children of parents who promote these […]

Earlier studies have shown that "we-ness" versus "me-ness" is a strong indicator of how happy younger couples are. This new study out of the University of California (Berkley) shows how the pronoun/identity factor plays out over time as couples either team up or become polarized over disagreements. Researchers found that couples who use words such […]

The team of U.S. and Norwegian researchers studied 205 randomly selected couples from southern Norway for two years. The couples showed problems typical of struggling relationships. Half of the couples in the study used the client feedback system, while the other half did not. Couples using the client-based feedback reported feeling more satisfied in their […]

A new sex education guide, drafted by teachers, religious groups, health charities, parents and children, emphasizes the challenges and responsibilities of parenthood. It also highlights the importance of marriage and strong, stable relationships when raising children. The UK children's secretary, Ed Balls, states "We want to give young people the facts, so that they can […]

The reason politicians are not just entitled, but obliged, to take an interest in marriage is because of the compelling evidence that marriage makes a practical difference in society. The statistics are pretty overwhelming in showing that marriage acts as a check on family breakdown and that family breakdown boosts the likelihood of an array […]

According to a recent study, new parents' marital status is the number one predictor of whether or not they will stay together. It doesn't matter how rich or well educated they are, cohabiting parents are at least twice as likely to split up as married parents of similar income or education. The author of this […]