Andrew Greeley
The future of marriage & what "works".
Andrew Greeley is a Catholic priest, sociologist, novelist, and practical theologian who wrote "Faithful Attraction" in 1992 to share some of his research on "the future of marriage" and "what makes marriages satisfactory."
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."
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