Marriage Today: Exploring the Incongruence Between Americans’ Beliefs and Practices

This paper provides a literature review of the incongruence between Americans’ beliefs and practices regarding marriage. In the United States, marriage is conceptualized as a monogamous, lifelong partnership. Yet American practices do not support this conceptualization, which is evidenced by infidelity and divorce rates that approximate 25-50 percent. This paper explores the incongruence and examines how cultural shifts in marital practices have contributed to higher rates of infidelity and divorce. Information is presented about the purpose of marriage, and attitudes and practices regarding infidelity and divorce. We present these topics using a sociohistorical context and describe how the nature of marriage has changed over time. It is argued that the purpose of marriage has shifted from being a social obligation to a choice based on personal fulfillment; and that this shift puts individuals at greater risk of infidelity and divorce. Throughout the paper, and particularly in the concluding section, we offer commentary about how the incongruence between marital beliefs and practices can be reconciled at the intrapersonal, interpersonal, and contextual levels.