ABSTRACT
This chapter offers a review of some demographic information concerning the makeup of the three samples: age at first marriage, length of marriage, and whether they have children. It considers whether the couple has had any premarital counseling and, if so, with whom, their expectations concerning their respective marriage, and how they perceived their marriage compared with other couples. The chapter reviews the samples’ attitudes concerning issues of their divorce, such as whether divorce is justified and, if it is justifiable, what reasons make it so. Marital expectations in the United States are very high. There are significant statistical differences between the married sample and both the annulled and the divorced groups. The married respondents were, as expected, more likely to perceive their marriages as more satisfying than the two divorced groups. When the divorced and annulled groups were compared, only one statistically significant difference existed: immaturity.
