<p>A study reported, in the 80's, that <strong>unmarried cohabitation prior to marriage was associated with &quot;significantly&quot; lower marital satisfaction</strong>, but did not report an effect size. They also reported that <strong>the duration of unmarried cohabitation was unrelated to marital satisfaction</strong>(DeMaris and Leslie, 1984). A later study by the same lead author from the 90's reported that <strong>unmarried cohabitation predicted later divorce after controlling for time in union</strong> (DeMaris and Rao, 1992), which I include because time in union could be a confounding factor and I could not find direct evidence.</p>
<p>Wydick (2007) gave a game theoretic account of why unmarried cohabitation may lead to relatively decreased marital satisfaction which I am not qualified to evaluate, but the paper cites a number of empirical studies that support DeMaris' older thesis, so this paper may also be of some interest.</p>
<p>Not to speculate, but this is subjectively surprising to me. When I began the literature search, I was confident the idea was nonsense, and yet here we are.</p>
<h2>References</h2>
<ul>
<li>DeMaris, A., &amp; Leslie, G. R. (1984). Cohabitation with the future spouse: Its influence upon marital satisfaction and communication. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 77-84.</li>
<li>DeMaris, A., &amp; Rao, K. V. (1992). Premarital cohabitation and subsequent marital stability in the United States: A reassessment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 178-190.</li>
<li>Wydick, B. (2007). Grandma was right: Why cohabitation undermines relational satisfaction, but is increasing anyway. Kyklos, 60(4), 617-645.</li>
</ul>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2015-04-24T17:20:23.277Z
2015-04-24T19:15:12.897Z
2020-06-17T09:55:31.633Z
Christian Hummeluhr
<p>Do you know any research/survey results comparing how happy do people feel in marriage (after a few years) comparing marriages who lived together before marrying and living separately? </p>

<p>There are many studies into comparing divorce rate among spouses living or not living together before marrying, but I think it has a serious flaw - religious views can make couples still live together in marriage even though they feel unhappy. I think feeling happiness could be more interesting statistic.</p>

<p><strong>Is premarital cohabitation associated with later marital satisfaction?</strong></p>

CC BY-SA 3.0
2013-12-18T16:41:54.037Z
(1) Just simple question, like 'do you feel happy and satisfied in your relationship, rate 1-10, not study into 'what happiness is' (2) How can you exclude religiosity from divorce rate, if religion prohibits it?
Michał Wróbel
<social-psychology><love><religion>
Looking for happines in marriage survey according to living/not living together before marriage
Michał Wróbel
# Looking for happines in marriage survey according to living/not living together before marriage

(Asked by: username_0 on 2013-12-18)

Do you know any research/survey results comparing how happy do people feel in marriage (after a few years) comparing marriages who lived together before marrying and living separately?

There are many studies into comparing divorce rate among spouses living or not living together before marrying, but I think it has a serious flaw - religious views can make couples still live together in marriage even though they feel unhappy. I think feeling happiness could be more interesting statistic.

**Is premarital cohabitation associated with later marital satisfaction?**

**Tags:** social-psychology, love, religion

> **Comments:**
> **username_0**: (1) Just simple question, like 'do you feel happy and satisfied in your relationship, rate 1-10, not study into 'what happiness is' (2) How can you exclude religiosity from divorce rate, if religion prohibits it?  

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## 1 answers

### Answer by username_1 on 2015-04-24. Score: 4 | Accepted answer

A study reported, in the 80's, that **unmarried cohabitation prior to marriage was associated with "significantly" lower marital satisfaction**, but did not report an effect size. They also reported that **the duration of unmarried cohabitation was unrelated to marital satisfaction**(DeMaris and Leslie, 1984). A later study by the same lead author from the 90's reported that **unmarried cohabitation predicted later divorce after controlling for time in union** (DeMaris and Rao, 1992), which I include because time in union could be a confounding factor and I could not find direct evidence.

Wydick (2007) gave a game theoretic account of why unmarried cohabitation may lead to relatively decreased marital satisfaction which I am not qualified to evaluate, but the paper cites a number of empirical studies that support DeMaris' older thesis, so this paper may also be of some interest.

Not to speculate, but this is subjectively surprising to me. When I began the literature search, I was confident the idea was nonsense, and yet here we are.

## References

* DeMaris, A., & Leslie, G. R. (1984). Cohabitation with the future spouse: Its influence upon marital satisfaction and communication. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 77-84.
* DeMaris, A., & Rao, K. V. (1992). Premarital cohabitation and subsequent marital stability in the United States: A reassessment. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 178-190.
* Wydick, B. (2007). Grandma was right: Why cohabitation undermines relational satisfaction, but is increasing anyway. Kyklos, 60(4), 617-645.


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