Why Stay Married? Rewards, Barriers, and Marital Stability

Denise Previti · Paul R. Amato

106 citations0/0 files storedJournal of Marriage and the Family

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Family Dynamics and Relationships Attachment and Relationship Dynamics Marriage and Family Dynamics

Abstract

This paper describes people's open‐ended, personal accounts of why they stay married. Most people perceived the cohesiveness of their marriages in terms of rewards and barriers, and few people referred to a lack of good alternatives. People who reported barriers only tended to be relatively unhappy with their marriages and were more likely than other individuals to be thinking about divorce. People who reported barriers only, compared with people who reported rewards only, were more likely to divorce during the next 14 years. This association was significant even after controlling for marital happiness and divorce proneness.

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References

1983A longitudinal test of the investment model: The development (and deterioration) of satisfaction and commitment in heterosexual involvements.1979Contemporary theories about the family 2000Research on the Nature and Determinants of Marital Satisfaction: A Decade in Review 1989Recent trends in marital disruption 1999The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work 2001A Half Century of Mate Preferences: The Cultural Evolution of Values 1979Theorizing about the quality and stability of marriage 1976A Social Psychological Perspective on Marital Dissolution

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2017Status-Based Identity 2004Life satisfaction among European American, African American, Chinese American, Mexican American, and Dominican American adolescents 2011Financial Satisfaction and Financial Stressors in Marital Satisfaction 2013Couples, Money, and Expectations: Negotiating Financial Management Roles to Increase Relationship Satisfaction 2008The Gendered Meanings of Assets for Divorce

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