ABSTRACT
People get married when they fi nd someone they love more than anyone else. We marry once we fi nd that one special person for us, the person we are meant to spend the rest of our life with, our best friend. We know there will be challenges and marriage will be hard work, but our strong and true love for each other should get us through. Th ree quarters of Americans believe in “one true love,” and over 90 percent of never-married women and men between the ages of 20-29 “want their spouses to be a soul mate fi rst and foremost.” Nearly 90 percent of single women and men believe that “a special person, a soul mate” is out there to be found and that they will successfully fi nd them when they are ready to get married. 1
We expect to marry our soul mate. It would be almost unimaginable to give other reasons for marriage today. Th e book Marry Him: Th e Case for Settling for Mr. Good Enough challenged this idea by encouraging women to not seek a perfect partner. Th e author argued that people are too picky, which leads to loneliness, unhappiness, and regret, and therefore, they should not be so picky. 2 Instead, women should marry someone “good enough.” But settling for a “good enough” person to marry might seem pretty awful.
