For decades, research has indicated that marital status matters for individuals’ risk of developing certain illnesses—such as cardiovascular disease or type 2 diabetes—and even seems to impact all-cause mortality. Researchers have long hypothesized that married individuals enjoy less stress and loneliness than do their never-married or divorced/widowed peers, and also tend to exercise better self-care. […]

For decades, the media and even various policy groups have told Americans that it’s OK—nay, it’s good and healthy—to explore multiple sexual relationships with multiple partners. Merely watching television may lead one to conclude that most Americans lead sex lives that are wildly promiscuous and adventurous. But a new study out of the Institute for […]

Family and relationship scholars have observed the growing trend toward cohabitation with wonder. Is this a new substitute, as most such scholars claim, for the old-fashioned concept of marriage? Or is it a passing behavioral blip? One argument runs thus: Yes, cohabitation tends to be associated with slightly lower rates of happiness and commitment, but […]