Newlyweds – The Stress and The Reality

“There is hardly any activity, any enterprise, which is started with such tremendous hopes and expectations which fails so regularly as love.” Erich Fromm

“The first year of marriage is the critical time for most couples.” David Mace

Newlyweds tend to have most of their stress in 3 areas of their life: financial issues, establishing themselves at work, and household responsibilities.  These findings are based on a study by David Olson and are published in the book, “Families: What Makes Them Work”

Some common characteristics of happy newlyweds were found by Arond and Pauker (1987).  Based on their study, they have some useful suggestions for newlyweds.

  • Tolerate imperfections and differences

  • Acknowledge and handle hostility

  • Separate from your family of origin

  • Realize that marriage has its ups and downs

  • Love alone is not sufficient to maintain intimacy.