Hesitation In Relationships Annotated Bibliography

Sassler, S., & Miller, A. J. (2010). Waiting to Be Asked: Gender, Power, and Relationship Progression Among Cohabiting Couples. Journal of family issues, 32(4), 482-506. 

This intriguing article reveals the way majority of married Americans stay with their spouses before wedding, and most cohabit with partners they do not wed. The study indicates that, in most cases, men are the major contributing factor towards hesitation seen in most relationships. They become intimate with their female counterparts, and are usually slow to progress things into formal status. In a bid to arrive at this conclusion, the authors conducted a semi-structured one on one interviews on 30 cohabiting couples. They inquired from the couples regarding their present relationships, and plans with current partner. The study focused mainly on three stages of relationship namely being romantically involved, moving in together and future discussions. The researchers were mainly interested in demographic characteristic of the cohabiting couples that include age, couple level of income, education level, race, and marital status. The study found out that, cohabiting couples are diverse in nature, and most of them have no plans of formalizing the relationship. Most couples in relationships have not discussed about plans, because they feel the relationship is too new. The researchers came across three couples who have not held any discussion about getting married. Surprisingly, the study revealed that women fear introducing the topic about marriage in their relationships with men, as they feel it will be unwelcomed. This shows that men are the one in-charge of relationships. In discussing reasons that make most couples hesitant in relationships, the study found out that both men and women want to complete school, save money, wed prior to engagement, and reduce debts among other reasons. 

Reference  

Sassler, S., & Miller, A. J. (2010). Waiting to Be Asked: Gender, Power, and Relationship Progression Among Cohabiting Couples. Journal of family issues, 32(4), 482-506.