Women who develop cold feet just before the wedding have a much higher risk of getting divorced and lower rates of satisfaction with their marriage. According to a new study by researchers at the University Of California- Los Angeles, pre-wedding jitters, especially those that affect women, can actually be a divorce predictor.
The researchers followed 232 newlywed couples in the Los Angeles area. These couples were studied during the first few months after they were married, and follow-up surveys were conducted every 6 months over the next 4 years.
At the end of the 4 years, the researchers found that 19% of those women who admitted that they had doubts about their wedding ended up getting divorced. In comparison, among those women who did not have any doubts, the divorce rate was 8%.
About 40% of husbands who admitted that they had doubts before the wedding ended up divorced, compared to a rate of 9% among the husbands who did not have doubts about the wedding.
There also seem to be differences depending on the spouse. When husbands had doubts about the wedding, the divorce rate was 10%. When wives had the same doubts, the divorce rate was 18%. When both partners had doubts about the wedding, the divorce rate increased to 20%.
The results of the study are intriguing, because people generally tend to brush aside pre-wedding jitters as a normal experience before a wedding. General doubts about marriage as an institution seem to be acceptable. However, if you have specific doubts about your marriage, then you may have a higher risk of an unsuccessful marriage.
