Newlyweds’ Unexpected Adjustments to Marriage

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the unexpected adjustments to marriage of contemporary couples. Twenty-one couples were interviewed. The criteria were as follows: all of the couples were childless, in their first marriage, and the couples had been married less than a year. Qualitative analysis based on a phenomenological approach was used in the investigation. Six themes emerged regarding unexpected adjustments. The themes were as follows: The little things, competing loyalties, letdowns, serious responsibility, relationship roles, and sex. In some cases, gender of the spouse and premarital cohabitation appeared to relevant to distinct types of adjustments. Implications for conceptualizing the transition to marriage and for further research and application toward premarital education are discussed.

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