The Form and Function of Premarital Courtship Trajectories

Sarah Halpern-Meekin, University of Wisconsin at Milwaukee
Laura M. Tach, University of Pennsylvania

Premarital courtship experiences matter a great deal for future marital quality and stability, but previous work has typically examined premarital relationship stages in isolation. We extend this work by considering the timing and duration of multiple premarital relationship stages including dating, spending the night, cohabitation, and the transition to marriage. We use novel data on a national sample of 752 married couples that include detailed information on the timing and duration of each premarital relationship stage. First, we fill a descriptive hole by tracing the form of premarital courtship trajectories, using cluster analysis to map the heterogeneous relationship paths couples follow into marriage. Second, we explore the function of these trajectories, using OLS regression analysis to test whether and how they relate to marital quality outcomes.