Marital timing (early, on time, and late) literature generally compares social status, education, or future plans to age at marriage. In the present study, a new dimension of marital timing was explored. A wider eco-systems view which focused on the influence of families in the marital timing of their offspring was considered. Specifically, a hypothesized family life balance was considered to be disrupted by certain family events. Friedman, drawing heavily on Bowen Family System Theory, suggested six major balance disrupting events in families of origin: birth, death, marriage, divorce, retirement, and geographical move. It was further suggested that the resultant disruption of balance then triggers marriage of family offspring during the following 12 months. Using chi square and contingency coefficient analyses with a sample of 313 college students, the hypothesis of balance disrupting events in families of origin leading to marriage of offspring was supported. Family cohesion, birth order, gender, and race were also empirically related to the marital timing of subjects following one of the six balance disrupting events in families of origin. Implications of this family influence on the marriage of offspring are discussed for family research, family therapy, and family life education. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 45-02, Section: A, page: 0657. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1984.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_75275 |
| Contributors | FULTON, RICHARD H., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 87 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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