Rethinking marriage - Change and stability in expectations, 1967-1994

This study investigates the relationship between individuals' expectations for marriage and their beliefs about the social world. Drawing on the neoinstitutionalist perspective and employing a repeated cross-section design, this study analyzes survey data on young adults from 1967 and 1994 to examine the relationship between attitudes about social relationships and marriage expectations, stability and change over time in marital expectations, and changes in institutionalized notions of marriage. We find evidence of both stability and change in marriage expectations and that cultural notions of marriage differ for men and women. Overall, this study provides support for the contention that marriage expectations are formed within an institutional context that is influential in shaping individual strategies of action.