Research from Ohio State’s Mansfield campus shows couples are more likely to have a successful marriage if they enter the union with realistic expectations.
James McNulty, assistant professor of psychology at Mansfield, used 82 couples that were solicited from the local community.
McNulty and his co-author, Benjamin Karney, sent letters to newly married couples and fliers to such places as bridal and tuxedo shops to inform the community of their upcoming project. McNulty said they received many responses, which meant the researchers had to go through and choose their subjects.
“We wanted to keep it to people being married for the first time,” McNulty said.
After the couples had been selected, McNulty and his partner went to work in determining their own expectations for this research study.
McNulty said he wanted to find why people start out happy in relationships and then turn to unhappiness later.
“We wanted to understand why people’s sense of satisfaction changes and why their sense of happiness is inconsistent,” McNulty said.
In the four-year analysis, McNulty found that happiness in a marriage is not just determined by the couple’s expectations, but also by the couple’s skills.
McNulty was able to come to this conclusion by videotaping his subjects while they attempted to solve an average marital problem.
McNulty found that in some problematic marriages, couples could be found blaming one another for the problem or avoiding a response.
“If couples come in with more realistic expectations, they will be more likely to be more stable over time,” McNulty said.
McNulty said personally he came away with some basic observations.
“If (couples) are having problems before marriage, they should realize those problems will probably continue; and they should have a realistic view of what it is all about,” McNulty said.
McNulty’s psychology colleagues said his research is important and everyone should take note of his findings.
“This is important stuff. If we’re not careful and lucky, it can be self-defeating to enter a close relationship blithely expecting them to be carefree and wonderful,” said Rowland Miller, professor of psychology at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas.
Miller said he feels McNulty’s work can help those who have had failed relationships, as well as aiding those entering into serious relationships.
“His work is a great example of the manner in which relationship scientists are addressing questions of substance and helping us succeed in relations where we might have failed,” Miller said.
McNulty completed his four years of research as part of his doctoral dissertation at the University of Florida.
McNulty said he has plans to continue this research at OSU with 72 newly recruited couples.
He plans to follow the couples for several years to better understand the lives and relationships of married couples.
