According to research, couples who are engaged for a long time are more likely to experience divorce. The time between proposal and marriage is indeed an exciting period for the couple. But the too long period of engagement may create uncertainty which leads to stress in the long run. So, the length of engagement has a direct impact on the risk of divorce. Find out whether the engagement period can spell trouble for your future married life.
New research
A group of psychologists at North Carolina State University researched to find a correlation between engagement length and divorce risk. The Forum for Family and Consumer Issues journal has published these research findings. According to the research, whether it is too short or too long engagement length harms the relationship. In both cases, the couples are at high risk for divorce.
Researchers mentioned these couples as “Delayed-Action Divorcers”. The researchers said, “One can imagine the partners in a Delayed-Action Divorcer couple to be two people who are passionately attracted to each other may get along well because they do not address or challenge things that they may not like about each other.”
They also stated, “They may profess their love toward each other within a couple of months of meeting and progress toward exclusivity and a sexual relationship within a very short time. When problems arise, the partners might convince each other that the issues have little significance, or they might ignore the problems altogether.”The superficial characteristics like good looks don’t last for a long time and the couple loses the depth of feelings.
Other thoughts
The research mentioned that couples who have a lengthy engagement period can experience a steeper decline in affection. A crushed hope of a better relationship could be the main reason for the loss of affection. However, some experts recommend different benefits of short or long engagements. Psychiatrist Scott Haltzman said, “Long engagements are helpful when individuals are at significantly different places in their lives.”