Will you be happier if you marry rather than cohabitate?

Ohio State University used data that was collected in the 2000’s for a study that examined how living together VS getting married impacts an individual’s well-being, and it compared the differences between the impacts on men VS women. The conclusions were that young women, get as much benefit from moving in with a partner (in a first relationship) as they do from marriage. They also experienced the same decline in emotional distress from either cohabitation without marriage and marriage. Clearly moving into commitment with or without marriage improves a woman’s sense of security and increases her happiness.

Men on the other hand had a drop in emotional distress when they went directly to marriage, but not to a shared living arrangement (in their first committed relationship.) It is somewhat surprising that marriage causes less distress for a guy than moving in together does. Perhaps making the big decision and having this behind them has a calming influence on men but not on women.

However, once both sexes get to a second or subsequent relationship, the differences in their emotional returns from living together VS marrying are the same. Apparently guys feel better about living together as opposed to going right into marriage after they have some serious relationship experience under their belts.

It’s interesting that marriage used to be a requirement for a certain level of contentment, especially for women, but that now people are just as happy without it. No wonder the marriage rate has gone down and that people are getting married at a later age and often after living together for a while.

If you want to read the study, you can find it online in the Journal of Family Psychology.

Author: Toni Coleman

Toni Coleman, LCSW, CMC is an internationally recognized dating and relationship expert and founder of http://consum-mate.com Her expertise is sought frequently by local and national publications and top ranked dating and relationship websites and she has been a guest on a number of radio and TV programs. She is the featured relationship coach in “The Business and Practice of Coaching,” (Norton, September 2005); the author of the forward for, “Winning Points with the Woman in Your Life, One Touchdown at a Time;” (Simon and Schuster, November 2005) - and her popular relationship articles can be found in several magazines and a number of self- help, personal growth and dating/relationship websites. Toni holds a Master’s degree in Clinical Social Work, is a licensed psychotherapist in the state of Virginia, and earned a certification in life coaching.

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