Social Networks and Relationship Stability

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SES-1153867Michael RosenfeldStanford UniversityAbstractSocial Networks and Relationship Stability Marriage and family life in the United States have undergone significant changes in the past 50 years. In addition to the fact that Americans are now marrying later than ever before, young adulthood is now marked by a more complex process that includes living arrangements away from family and college. Compared to other developed countries, American couples also have higher divorce rates and less couple stability. Most important for this study, fewer relationships are formed via traditional personal networks (e.g., family, community, work). This project addresses the following fundamental questions: (1) Are relationships equally likely to last, regardless of the context in which they evolved? (2) How do individual factors, as well as personal networks and the social context shape the odds that relationships last? A previous study gathered nationally representative survey data (of U.S. adults) on how couples meet. The follow-up study proposed here will determine whether the couples previously interviewed have stayed together, and determine the factors influencing relationship stability. Broader ImpactsFamily and relationship stability is a topic of great interest to the general public, scholars, and policy makers. Findings derived from this study could help us understand the individual and contextual factors that shape trends regarding couple dissolution. This is a subject of considerable debate in public discourse, but for which there has previously been insufficient data. The project also will also result in an updated publically available dataset accessible to other researchers via the Stanford University website; it can been used to train undergraduate and graduate students in survey methods and data analysis.