ABSTRACT
Extensive questionnaires and in-depth interviews were utilized. The sample included 772 lesbian couples and 957 gay couples. One of the dimensions studied was "breakup rates". To establish these rates, approximately half of all the couples originally surveyed were resurveyed eighteen months later to see how many had broken up and why. The authors were surprised to find that lesbians had the highest breakup rate in their study. Blumstein and Schwartz found that lesbians have a number of conflicting desires in their relationships, particularly about their female roles. In lesbian relationships, it's easy to get fooled. Lesbians want to avoid being dependent or having a dependent partner. The purpose of the research was to study the lives of four kinds of American couples: married, heterosexual-cohabitating, gays, lesbians particularly in regard to money, work, and sex. The challenge for lesbian couples is concerned with romantic expectations.
