The course of marital success and failure in five American 10-year marriage cohorts

Using a repeated cross-sectional design to trace marital success and failure in five American 10-year marriage cohorts from 1973 to 1994 reveals no convincing evidence of an increase in aggregate-level marital success at any duration in the first five decades after first marriage. The higher mean level of marital quality in late-term than in mid-term marriages shown by cross-sectional stud ies apparently results largely from cohort differences in marital success.