Students' Expectations and Optimism Toward Marriage as a Function of Parental Divorce

Summary

Two hundred seventy-three single college students from intact, single-divorce, and multiple-divorce homes answered questions concerning their optimism and perceptions of control regarding a future marriage. Students from intact nomes had more favorable expectations about the quality of their future marriage than students from single- and multiple-divorce homes. However, all three groups were (1) equally optimistic about their likelihood of getting married and (2) more optimistic about the success of their own future marriage than about the marital success of similar and dissimilar comparison others. Interestingly, students from multiple-divorce homes reported significantly higher amounts of relationship control than students from other backgrounds.

Key Words:

• Parental divorce
• multiple divorce
• marriage
• unrealistic optimism
• attitudes