FAITHFUL ATTRACTION: Discovering Intimacy, Love, and Fidelity in American Marriage

by Andrew M. Greeley ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 26, 1990

The prolific Fr. Greeley dons his sociologist's cap to present a cheerful report on modern American marriage. Good news abounds for those words ""I do."" Basing his study on ""the first national probability sample study ever attempted of love and intimacy among married Americans,"" as well as on two Gallup polls and two National Opinion Research Center surveys, Greeley reports that American marriage is flying high. Fidelity is common, ""even epidemic."" Most Americans adore their spouses. Seventy-six percent find their spouse attractive; 77% call him or her ""kind and gentle."" And so on, into the sunset (two thirds are still married to their first spouse). Ingredients for happy marriages--respect, communication, agreement on values--come as no surprise, although a few findings may: men are more romantic than women, especially as the couple grows older; career-and-motherhood go together nicely; the bulk of Americans (78%) still consider homosexuality to be wrong. One finding will surely unsettle: that the last 20 years of ""liberation"" have been kinder to men than women, the latter suffering from increased poverty, sexual abuse, and so on. A few flashes of vintage Greeley wit, but for the most part this is a dry report; the pleasure lies in contemplating the (mostly) good tidings it relays.

Pub Date: Feb. 26, 1990

ISBN: N/A

Page Count: -

Publisher: Tor--dist. by St. Martin's

Review Posted Online: N/A

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 1990

Categories: NONFICTION