With an increasing number of states legalizing same-sex marriage, this study focused on a major public concern -- parenting by same-sex couples. Data from 201 undergraduates at a small midwestern university revealed that females and students reporting a close gay/lesbian friend had more positive attitudes toward same-sex parenting. In addition,…

The median age at first marriage in the U.S. has reached historic highs--29.2 for men and 27.1 for women. In this study, we used the Marriage Apprehension Questionnaire (MAQ) to investigate the marriage wariness of university students. Previous research has suggested that the marital attitudes of young adults are largely the result of familial and…

"The talk" is culturally understood to mean a discussion whereby both partners in a relationship reveal their feelings about each other and their commitment to a future together. Typically, one partner feels a greater need to clarity the future and instigates "the talk." This study reports the analysis of a 15 item…

A revised version of the Quality Marriage Index (QMI) was used to examine demographic correlates of marital satisfaction. We administered the revised QMI to a sample of college students and found a significant positive correlation between age and relationship satisfaction. We suggest that this increase in relationship satisfaction could be due to…

Three-hundred-and-twenty six undergraduates at a large southeastern university completed an anonymous 74-item questionnaire designed to assess beliefs about men, women, and relationships. Significant differences between men's and women's beliefs about romantic relationships were found on eight of 14 items. Men were significantly more likely to…

One-hundred-and-ninety seven undergraduates at a large southeastern university completed a confidential anonymous 22-item questionnaire designed to assess the qualities college women want in their prospective marital partners. The data revealed that women (when compared to what men want in a partner) were significantly more likely to prefer men…

Based on the popular television programs of "Bachelor," "Bachelorette," "Blind Date," "Elimidate," and "Next" an in-class exercise was developed and executed in five sections of a marriage and family course at a large southeastern university whereby students identified a homogamous (homogamy =…

Analysis of survey data from 326 undergraduates at a large southeastern university revealed significant differences between men and women in their sexual beliefs. Specifically, men were more likely to think that oral sex is not sex; that cybersex is not cheating, that men can't tell if a woman is faking orgasm and that sex frequency drops in…

The sexual values of absolutism (abstinence until marriage), relativism (sexual decisions made in reference to the nature of the relationship), and hedonism ("if it feels good, do it") were assessed in a convenience sample of 783 undergraduate students at a large southeastern university. Results revealed that relativism (62.1%) was the predominate…

In 1986 (n = 359) and in 2003 (n = 111), single never married women enrolled at a large university in the mid-west completed questionnaires designed to investigate their willingness to participate in 13 different alternative marital and family forms. "Egalitarian" marriage was ranked first by women in both time periods with 93.5 and 95.6 percent…

The purpose of the current study was to gather data on the attitudes and smoking habits of university students. Data were collected from 250 undergraduates dealing with various aspects of smoking behavior. There were 80 smokers and 170 nonsmokers, including 21 former smokers. In addition to demographic information, participants were assessed with…

Interracial dating on American campuses has had a relatively stormy past. Until the past three decades or so, it was outlawed in some states. Southern institutions, in particular, such as the infamous Bob Jones University have made this issue divisive even among their own constituencies. Age and generation seem to be cogent factors with younger…

The subject of this study is gender and gender roles affecting mate preferences. The sample of the study consists of 300 undergraduates and master students. To identify students' gender roles the Sex Role Evaluation Inventory (Bem, 1974) is used. The Question List (Bacanli 2001; Buss et. al., 1990) is applied to the sample group to determine the…

The purpose of the study was to investigate college women's were unwillingness to participate in 24 alternative marital and family forms. Data were collected through the use of anonymous questionnaires distributed in classes. The analysis revealed "One man married to two or more wives" (95.1%), "Man has "right" to sex outside of marriage"…

Three-hundred-and-thirty undergraduates at a large southeastern university completed a confidential anonymous 26 item questionnaire designed to assess the effect of parental divorce/remarriage on the relationship with their respective parents and on their own romantic relationships. The data revealed several significant relationships-respondents…