Several couples predicted that they would have happy life after taking their vows and they wanted their marriage to be last. Ted Huston is a professor of human ecology and psychology who worked on "the PAIR Project" and invited 168 marriage couples to see if they're still together after 13 years of marriage. The author of "Will Your Marriage Last?" , Aviva Patz, attended professor Huston's lecture and shared her experiences.
Unlike past researchers, Ted Huston study look at couples who were newlyweds and happened to be divorce. He found that a couples who begin with "hollywood romantic" are usually fail marriage because its hard to maintain their relationship. For those who remained in marriage are usually who show less negative feelings and their feelings did not change even after two years of marriage. As Ted Huston believes that "The first two years are key---that's when the risky of divorce is particularly high,"(445).
"Disillusionment model" is for those who start with love but end it up divorce. Having conflict in marriage isn't always the reason in divorce but loss of love, affection, and disappointment. According to PAIR Project, Peter and Suzie married after dating nine months. Ten years later, Suzie filed the divorce paper saying "loss of love" as the main reason. Whether happy or unhappy,"the enduring dynamics model" describe the couples who remained together. Huston states that couples who had known each other so long and have more affection before marriage are usually the one who stay. In 1994, Huston's study shows all the couples had fallen into 4 groups. They were either happily or unhappily married, divorced within the first 7 years or after 7 years.
Patz, Aviva. "Will Your Marriage Last?" Writing and Reading
Across the Curriculum. Ed. Laurence Behrens, Leonard J.
Rosen.
Aviva Patz:
author
attended the seminar
concerned about her marriage
summarized Huston's research
Ted Huston:
researcher