Love and marriage definitely do not go hand-in-hand for today's 20-somethings, according to "Sex Without Strings, Relationships Without Rings," the latest study from the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University.
In fact, romantic love takes a back seat to immediate sexual gratification, a story in the Bergen Record notes. And personal satisfaction in marriage trumps the old purpose of raising children together.
This sea change in the societal mating script for the non college-grad men and women questioned by this survey also found that they:
- Think sex is for fun,
- Favor living together as a try-out for marriage,
- Fear divorce, as many have divorced parents.
Many women also see single motherhood as an option.
"In some cases, women are picking men out as sperm donors," according to sociology professor David Popenoe, co-director of the project, who is quoted in an Associated Press story on the survey at ABC News.
Although many are looking for a "soul mate" and expect marriage to last a lifetime, "they are involved in a mating culture that may make it more difficult to achieve this lofty goal," Barbara Dafoe Whitehead, the project's other co-director, points out.
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