Seven Urban Love Legends: Separating Love Fiction from Love Fact: By Dr. Diana Kirschner
When it comes to dating and love relationships there are certain "love facts" that most everyone believes. But, surprisingly, if we look at the actual research about these "love facts," we may find that they are not facts at all. They are fictions, myths. This is key information for anyone who is interested in creating a great love relationship; separating love fiction from love fact makes you an informed "consumer" when it comes to your dating and love life.
Here are seven of these mythic urban love legends and what the research actually shows us to be true about dating and relationships.
Myth 1 - The divorce rate in the country is 50 percent.
Fact: It's never been 50 percent. It's actually 41 percent. The odds are better than you think. And a college education decreases the likelihood of divorce. This is shown by more sophisticated research.
Myth 2 - You have one soul mate, and meeting that "One" is the key to finding love.
Fact: Research shows that love and marriage take hard work, including commitment, positive communication, and the ability to resolve fights. The best relationship advice I can give you is that you need to work on yourself and choose someone, a good friend with chemistry, who's willing to grow with you. These are the keys to a happy marriage. Sorry, no fairy tale.
Myth 3 - When you are married, fighting is an unhealthy thing.
Fact: Couples who suppress their anger have a mortality rate that is twice as high as those in which one partner stands up for him/herself. Fighting with your spouse and then resolving differences is a healthy thing.
Myth 4 - Living with a boyfriend/girlfriend gives you a better sense of who your partner is and will make for a stronger marriage down the road.
Fact: Couples who have not lived together before marriage have healthier and more successful marriages. They also have less conflict, less abuse, and are less likely to get divorced than couples who live together before marriage. However, a more recent study shows that couples who have committed to be married and live together do have a 28 percent decreased risk of getting divorced.
Myth 5 - On the online dating websites, the majority of men are lying about themselves.
Fact: Independent research shows that the number is only about 20 percent. Common lies concern income, profession, age, marital status, and weight.
Myth 6 - It's better to wait until you're more mature and get married in your thirties rather than your twenties.
Fact: People who marry after their mid-twenties are just as likely to get divorced and surprisingly are much more likely to have a poor quality marriage than those who married earlier.
Myth 7 - Choosing marriage means more stress and financial drain in your life.
Fact: Married people are healthier emotionally and physically, and they have more wealth too.
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Esther
Posted By: Esther Pinkston
Tuesday, October 14th 2008 at 5:44PM
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