The institution of marriage has changed a lot over the last few centuries. As Eli Finkel explains in ‘The All of Nothing Marriage’ – truly one of my favourite social science books – Americans of the early nineteenth century would look with confusion on our modern attitudes towards what a spouse ought to be. An economic partner, sure. A co-parent, obviously. But a best friend, even a soul mate?
Today, Eli and I track these changes across American history, and we ask whether our modern attitudes towards marriage have some significant downsides. It seems that the best marriages are now better than ever. But it also seems that the institution as a whole has become more fragile.
Eli is a social psychologist at Northwestern University and also the co-host – along with Paul Eastwick, another MMM guest – of the podcast ‘Love Factually’, which analyses movies through the lens of relationship science.
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