The Marriage Paradox explores both national U.S. data and a smaller sample of emerging adults to find out how they really view marriage today. Interspersed with real stories and insight from emerging adults themselves, this book attempts to make sense of the increasingly paradoxical ways that young adults are thinking about marriage.

• Series Foreword


• Acknowledgments


• Introduction: The Marriage Paradox


• Chapter 1: Modern Marriage and Emerging Adulthood in the United States


• Chapter 2: Dating, Hooking-up, and Love: Relationships during Emerging Adulthood


• Chapter 3: Why Marriage Still Matters: Understanding Marital Paradigms During Emerging Adulthood


• Chapter 4: I Want to Get Married...Just Not Right Now


• Chapter 5: Marriage is Important...Just Not That Important


• Chapter 6: Finding the Right Person to Marry


• Chapter 7: The Influence of Parents and Families


• Chapter 8: Social Influences and Marriage


• Chapter 9: Gender and Gender Role Expectations


• Chapter 10: The Counter-Culture of Married Emerging Adults


• Chapter 11: Looking Ahead: The Future of the Marriage Paradox


• Appendix


• References


• About the Authors


• Index

Brian J. Willoughby, PhD, is an associate professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. Dr. Willoughby is considered an international expert in the field of couple and marital relationships, sexuality, and emerging adult development. His research generally focuses on how adolescents, young adults, and adults move toward and form long-term committed relationships.
Spencer L. James, PhD, is an assistant professor in the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. As a family demographer, Dr. James is interested in the ways people form, maintain, and dissolve long-term romantic relationships, especially during emerging adulthood. He draws primarily on nationally representative longitudinal datasets and advanced statistical methods to answer questions about contemporary trends in marital and cohabiting relationships.