An individual's premarital views about uncommitted sex, such as one-night stands or casual sex, may make it more difficult to remain blissfully married, suggests a new study.
Published in the journal Psychological Science, the research outlines several factors that can contribute to a marriage's long-term happiness or dissolution, including one big red flag: An individual's behaviour and attitude about uncommitted sexual relationships even before the marriage.
"Marital satisfaction generally declines over time, but what we've found is that when, prior to their marriage, one or both spouses hold generalised beliefs that uncommitted sex is OK, that can contribute to the failure of a marriage," said the study's first author Juliana French from Florida State University.
For the study, the research team collected and analysed data from 204 heterosexual, newly married couples.
They collected information on their behaviours and attitudes prior to the marriage as well as numerous factors related to their new marriages including marital satisfaction.
Over the course of several years, researchers followed up with couples to collect information about their marital satisfaction and cataloged data on which couples separated or filed for divorce.
In this study, the researchers focused on the degree to which people expressed "unrestricted sociosexual" behaviours, desires and attitudes prior to marriage, which indicated that they were more likely to engage in uncommitted sexual relationships such as one-night stands and generally believed that sex without love is okay.
Of the couples involved in the study, people who were relatively unrestricted were less satisfied at the start of their marriages.
Moreover, people who had relatively unrestricted partners experienced more rapid declines in satisfaction over the first several years of marriage, which ultimately predicted dissolution.
"What we found most surprising about these results was the fact that both couple members' sociosexuality play an important role in long-term, marital outcomes," French said.
"We found evidence suggesting that couples who maintain a consistent, satisfying sexual relationship or couples who maintain low levels of stress are buffered against these negative outcomes," French added.
Abducted Indian Army JCO rescued in Manipur
A defence spokesman said that Naib Subedar Konsam Kheda Singh, a resident of Charangpat Mamang Leikai in Thoubal district, was abducted while on leave from his residence on Friday morning.
259 illegal Myanmar immigrants deported from Manipur: CM Singh
Manipur Chief Minister N. Biren Singh said on Monday that out of the 6,746 illegal Myanmar immigrants detected in Manipur since the ongoing ethnic conflict unfolded in the state on May 3 last year, 259 were sent back to their country till February 27 after recording their biometrics details.
Suspected IED blast kills student in Manipur, another injured
A 24-year-old student was killed while another student was seriously injured in a blast near the DM University complex in Imphal late on Friday night, the police said on Saturday.
Manipur govt must submit recommendation for inclusion of Meitei community in ST list: Lawyer
The Manipur High Court’s order modifying its March 27, 2023 order in part in in connection with the inclusion of the Meitei community in the Scheduled Tribes (ST) list has evoked mixed reactions from various quarters in the northeastern state.
Successful Hernioplasty surgery performed at Unakoti District Hospital
In a groundbreaking medical achievement, Unakoti District Hospital witnessed the successful completion of a complex hernioplasty surgery on February 22.
New surrogacy law changes will uphold right to parenthood for all individuals: Experts
The latest amendment to the surrogacy law will uphold the right to parenthood for all individuals, said experts on Friday.
Cardiology Triumph: GB Hospital makes history with successful heart holes closure
In a groundbreaking achievement, the cardiology department of GB Hospital in Agartala has marked a historic milestone by successfully closing a heart hole through device closure, a procedure conducted for the first time in the hospital's history.
Kajal Memorial Football Tournament: Tripura Sports School to face Mungiakami School in final
Tripura Sports school once again played with lots of dominance and continued their good record in this tournament as previously they won the title for three times.