Couples With Cold Feet Before Marriage Are More Likely to End Up Divorced
Pre-wedding jitters are normal: everyone gets cold feet. At least, that's how the conventional wisdom goes.
But a new study conducted by the University of California, Los Angeles indicates that newlyweds uncertain about their marriages ended up less satisfied. And women with doubts who got married anyway were 2.5 times more likely to get divorced.
To be fair, the study polled newlyweds, not engaged people. While the question — "Were you ever uncertain or hesitant about getting married?" — was designed to look at pre-wedding anxiety, the couples in question had already been married. The doubts the husband or wife expressed may have been with the relationship after marriage.
Nevertheless, the study does seem to indicate that uncertainty is mostly not a good thing. And while that might sound obvious, it goes against the idea that all couples experience these doubts.
Among women, 19% who reported pre-wedding doubts were divorced four years later, compared with 8% who didn't report having doubts. For husbands, 14% who reported doubts were divorced four years later, compared with 9% who didn't report doubts.
On the other hand, study author Justin Lavner says that not having doubts isn't a sure sign the marriage will succeed either. So fingers crossed, basically.
