Impact of guardian relationships on committed relationships and college students

Abstract

Over the past couple of decades, America's divorce rate has sky rocketed to almost half of all marriages ending in divorce. This study investigated the attitudes of male and female college students from a Midwestern college towards committed relationships based on their parents'/guardians' marital status. It was hypothesized that college students' attitudes would be affected by their parents' marital status based on the Social Learning theory, which assumes that individuals often behave in ways that were modeled for them and that parents are some of the most powerful models. Survey data was analyzed using frequencies, cross-tabulations, and a reliability analysis. Results indicated that college students agreed that their parents' marital status affected their views on committed relationships. These findings were supported in the literature and supported the hypothesis. Implications for practitioners and future researchers include helping couples develop skills to maintain their marriages.