A new study has found that moving in with a partner in a sexual relationship has more benefits than marrying them immediately, especially for women. This is the case especially for younger couples, whether or not marriage is part of the plan.
Moving in Together Before Marriage is An Ideal Plan
The study, conducted by Ohio University, took data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997. Interviews than 8,000 people born between 1980 and 1984 were logged semiannually between 2000 and 2010. In these interviews, participants were asked about their relationship status and examined their emotional distress levels.
found that female participants in the study had a decrease in emotional stress by getting married or moving in with a romantic partner. Males, however, felt more emotionally distressed when moving immediately to a marriage without first having a sexual relationship. The best situation for both genders, according to the research, is when the couple already living together and in a sexual relationship decide to get married.
Sexual Relationship Out of Wedlock is the New Normal
The research, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, reveals that couples get emotional benefits from moving in together out of wedlock. By looking beyond the societal convention that couples should not engage in a sexual relationship until after marriage, the research reveals that the notion just doesn’t work anymore.
Marriage isn’t a societal necessity anymore, either. Living together and being married do not equal the same thing. In fact, living together, married or not, promotes good emotional health regardless. Since the research is ten years old, it just goes to prove that things are changing, and that marriage is not a requirement for solid emotional and mental health. Living in together should be better viewed as a preparation period to consider the idea of marriage, not something that happens after vows are exchanged.
