Brian J. Willoughby

So Close, Yet So Far Away: The Impact of Varying Marital Horizons on Emerging Adulthood.

This article presents a marital horizon theory of emerging adulthood that posits that young peoples perceptions of marriage are central factors in determining subgroup differences in the length of emerging adulthood as well as the specific behaviors that occur during this period in the family life cycle. The model was tested with a sample of 813 emerging adults who were recruited from six college sites across the country. Results demonstrated that there are significant differences between young people who have relatively close marital horizons (i.e., those who desire marriage in their early 20s) and those who have more distant marital horizons (i.e., those who desire marriage in their mid-20s or later) in the areas of substance use patterns, sexual permissiveness, and family formation values. Results suggest that changes in lifestyle patterns previously assumed to be associated with the transition to marriage may in fact be initiated when young people anticipate marriage in their near future.

The Relationships Between Emerging Adults' Expressed Desire to Marry and Frequency of Participation in Risk-Taking Behaviors

The impact that desire to marry has on risk-taking behaviors during emerging adulthood is examined in the current investigation using nationally representative data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Looking both at the simple relationships between desire to marry and risk-taking behaviors, as well as the possible predictive power desire to marry could have on binge drinking, marijuana use, and sexual behaviors, data revealed that attitudes toward marriage may be an important component of emerging adulthood and risk-taking research. Results indicate that desire to marry was predictive of several risk-taking behaviors for both men and women even after controlling for other known predictors of risk-taking. Implications for future research are discussed.

Differences in Pornography Use Among Couples: Associations with Satisfaction, Stability, and Relationship Processes.

The present study utilized a sample of 1755 adult couples in heterosexual romantic relationships to examine how different patterns of pornography use between romantic partners may be associated with relationship outcomes. While pornography use has been generally associated with some negative and some positive couple outcomes, no study has yet explored how differences between partners may uniquely be associated with relationship well-being. Results suggested that greater discrepancies between partners in pornography use were related to less relationship satisfaction, less stability, less positive communication, and more relational aggression. Mediation analyses suggested that greater pornography use discrepancies were primarily associated with elevated levels of male relational aggression, lower female sexual desire, and less positive communication for both partners which then predicted lower relational satisfaction and stability for both partners. Results generally suggest that discrepancies in pornography use at the couple level are related to negative couple outcomes. Specifically, pornography differences may alter specific couple interaction processes which, in turn, may influence relationship satisfaction and stability. Implications for scholars and clinicians interested in how pornography use is associated with couple process are discussed.

Sexual Desire Discrepancy: The Effect of Individual Differences in Desired and Actual Sexual Frequency on Dating Couples

The present study used a sample of 8,096 dating couples from the United States to explore how sexual desire discrepancy was associated with relationship satisfaction and stability. Sexual desire discrepancy was the difference between an individual’s desired level of sexual intercourse and the actual frequency of sexual intercourse within a given relationship. Actor and partner effects were explored. Results suggested that higher discrepancy between sexual desire and frequency was associated with higher relationship satisfaction and lower relationship stability but that these associations were moderated by gender and relationship length. Female sexual desire discrepancy had a particularly strong effect on relationship satisfaction. It was also found that high discrepancies tended to be associated with negative outcomes in relationships with longer relationship length.

Compatibility or restraint? The effects of sexual timing on marriage relationships.

Very little is known about the influence of sexual timing on relationship outcomes. Is it better to test sexual compatibility as early as possible or show sexual restraint so that other areas of the relationship can develop? In this study, we explore this question with a sample of 2035 married individuals by examining how soon they became sexually involved as a couple and how this timing is related to their current sexual quality, relationship communication, and relationship satisfaction and perceived stability. Both structural equation and group comparison analyses demonstrated that sexual restraint was associated with better relationship outcomes, even when controlling for education, the number of sexual partners, religiosity, and relationship length.

Exploring the Effects of Sexual Desire Discrepancy Among Married Couples

Previous studies have found associations between the individual discrepancy of desired sexual frequency and actual sexual frequency and relational outcomes among premarital couples. The present study extended this research by using a sample of 1,054 married couples to explore how actor and partner individual sexual desire discrepancy (SDD) scores were associated with relationship satisfaction, stability, communication, and conflict during marriage. All participants took an online survey which assessed both couple sexual dynamics and relationship outcomes. Findings suggested that higher actor individual SDD was generally associated with negative relational outcomes, including lower reported relationship satisfaction, stability, and more reported couple conflict. These effects were found after controlling for background factors, baseline sexual frequency and desire, and couple desire discrepancies. Some partner effects were also found and were generally in the same direction. Marital length did not moderate the effects found although gender moderated associations between individual SDD and reported couple communication. Negative associations between individual SDD and communication were particularly strong when the husband reported high discrepancies between desired and actual sexual frequency. Results suggested that higher individual sexual desire discrepancies among married individuals may undermine relationship well-being. Applications of these findings to a clinical setting are also discussed.

Marital Paradigms: A Conceptual Framework for Marital Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs

This article outlines a conceptual framework for summarizing the marital beliefs and values of individuals regardless of marital status. Drawing on concepts from symbolic interactionism and recent midrange theories of marital attitudes, we propose that marital beliefs can be conceptualized as an individual marital paradigm, which comprises both beliefs about getting married and beliefs about being married. Six interconnected dimensions of marital paradigms are proposed: marital salience, marital timing, martial context, marital processes, marital permanence, and marital centrality. We proceed to make connections between the proposed model and relevant recent research on marital attitudes.

The different effects of “living together”: Determining and comparing types of cohabiting couples

Utilizing a sample of 1365 never-married cohabiting couples, we developed a typology of premarital cohabitation. Latent class analysis was used to create a five-class model of cohabiting couples who were then compared to engaged and non-engaged non-cohabiting couples on measures of interpersonal dynamics and relational outcomes. Results suggested that being in different types of cohabiting relationships was associated with different risks and benefits in terms of relational outcomes. Engaged cohabiting couples who have an agreed trajectory toward marriage appear to do as well, or better, than other types of couples. Cohabiting couples who are not utilizing cohabitation as a current pathway toward marriage appeared very similar to non-cohabiting dating couples. It was also found that couples with ambiguity regarding their perceived movement toward marriage were at risk for negative relationship outcomes compared to other couple types.

“When Are You Getting Married?” The Intergenerational Transmission of Attitudes Regarding Marital Timing and Marital Importance

Using a sample of 335 young adults and their parents, this study investigated the intergenerational transmission of marital attitudes from parents to their children and how parental marital quality moderates that relationship. Results suggested that the marital attitudes of both mothers and fathers are related to the marital attitudes of their children. Parents’ marital quality had little direct impact on the marital attitudes of their young adult children but did moderate the relationship between fathers’ marital attitudes and their young adults’ marital attitudes. The association between fathers’ marital attitudes and their children’s marital attitudes increased at higher levels of marital quality.

In the Eye of the Beholder: Exploring Variations in the Perceptions of Pornography

While many studies have explored the correlates and outcomes associated with pornography use, the measurement of such use has relied heavily on self-definitions of pornography from research participants, and little is known regarding how individuals define pornography for themselves. Using a diverse sample of 2,089 individuals sampled from the online MTurk Web site, participants were asked to rate whether they felt 20 different examples of sexual media were pornography. Differences by gender, religious attendance, marital status, and pornography use patterns were explored. Results suggested significant variation across the sample in how specific examples of sexual media were perceived. In addition, response profiles significantly differed by gender, religious attendance, marital status, and use of pornography. Implications for the measurement of pornography are discussed.