[SeekAndFind]

RE: This kind of thing is always mistaking correlation with cause

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I can agree with you to a certain extent.... however there are STUDIES made regarding this issue.

See for instance, Post #23 above.

[discostu]

Remember there are lies, damn lies and statistics. The studies can only see results, they can’t tell you causes. So the studies say folks that move in together are less likely to stay together X amount of time under whatever condition the study posited. But that doesn’t mean that moving in together causes problems, it could be that the type of PEOPLE that move in together are less skilled at finding/ being a good long term mate. That’s what I mean by the difference between correlation and cause, just because B follows A doesn’t mean A causes B, it could just mean that people that A are more likely to B whether or not they ever Aed.

[redgolum]

The study is correct, but I think it misses something. My bride (of 8 years now!) and I didn't live together. Never crossed our mind. But because of who we are, and were, we had a more realistic view of what marriage is. To be blunt, you sign on and can't sign off.

Many who live together don't have that view. Or rather, those who view living together outside of marriage ok are more prone to viewing marriage as a “temporary” thing than those who view living together as wrong. In other words, it isn't shacking up, it is how you view commitment.