This summer I interned at Child Trends in Washington, DC. One of the projects I spent some time working on involved testing Child Trends' previously conceptualized definition for a healthy marriage. These are the ten dimensions they identified:
1. Commitment
2. Satisfaction
3. Communication
4. Effective Conflict Resolution
5. Lack of Violence and Abuse
6. Fidelity or Faithfulness
7. Intimacy and Emotional Support
8. Friendship and Spending Time Together
9. Commitment to Children
10. Duration and Legal Status
What do you think?
Are these in order of importance or relevance? I'm surprised that legal status is one. So legally married people tend to stay together because going through the divorce process is too mah fan?
ReplyDeleteThose who are legally married tend to have healthier relationships that are better for children. Part of it, I'm sure, has to do with the public commitment that is made at marriage and the attendant increase in social support.
ReplyDeleteAlso, divorce is less likely when there are internal (inward commitment, warm feelings for another) and external (legal barriers, social stigma) constraints to separation.