(STUDY FINDS) — TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — We all have a past, and romantic histories can often be a sore spot among lovers in a committed, long-term relationship. No one wants to hear about a current partner’s past sexual experiences, but a new long-term study finds that an individual’s personal beliefs on casual sex, even long before getting married or meeting their significant other, can make it much harder to stay happily married in the future.
Researchers from Florida State University investigated several factors likely to lead to a marriage’s ultimate success or failure, and identified pre-marital beliefs and behaviors pertaining to uncommitted sex as a major red flag indicating a marriage is not so likely to last.
“Marital satisfaction generally declines over time,” says Juliana French, the study’s first author, in a statement to the Association for Psychological Science. “But what we’ve found is that when, prior to their marriage, one or both spouses hold generalized beliefs that uncommitted sex is okay, that can contribute to the failure of a marriage.”
