From "Faithful Attraction"

BY ANDREW GREELEY 1992

In the context of the rising divorce rate in the United States, Andrew Greeley did a survey for the purpose of determining whether the rising divorce rate was a sign that people were growing less satisfied with marriage or that marriage was failing to meet the needs of most people. Greeley conclusion from the data he gathered was:

..."The majority of those surveyed seem happily married, content with their spouse and with the common life, and prepared to marry the same person again.

Concerning fidelity vs. divorce. What appears to be present in those marriages that are most stable (least likely to consider divorce)? Prayer and satisfactory love making are key factors when they co-exist; communication is also important, but will not substitute for either of the other two. Joint prayer on the other hand is likely to substitute for communication when there is satisfactory love making. A possible conclusion is that joint prayer is in itself a form of very intimate behavior which is often directly tied to greater intimacy in love making and serves as a "short cut" to communication, i.e. the couple who is functioning well at joint prayer and satisfactory love making is probably working out "stuff" more effectively and thus requires less formalized communication than couples who are not praying together and are less satisfied with their love making."

Return to previous page