Mind over marriage

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Tags: discovery, social science, summer-2010

UQ researchers are studying the changing perceptions of marriage

A team from UQ’s Institute for Social Science Research has found that marriage no longer enjoys the privileged status it once did.

Contributing to the change in status is an increase in couples divorcing, marrying later or not at all, having fewer children and the changing experiences of intimate relationships.

One of the most dramatic social trends is the rapid rise in rates of de facto cohabitation, indicating a significant shift in attitudes towards intimate relationships outside of marriage.

Australian Research Council Professorial Fellow Professor Janeen Baxter is leading two projects investigating these issues and is contributing to international understanding by investigating marriage and cohabitation patterns and experiences.

Working with Dr Belinda Hewitt, Associate Professor Michele Haynes, Professor Mark Western, and PhD students Sandra Buchler and Maelisa McNeil, Professor Baxter is developing new ways of understanding the changing significance of marriage.

Professor Baxter said the knowledge gained from these projects would lead to more effective social policies as well as new theories about the social organisation of personal relationships.

By Beth Hensler

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