85% of Couples Experience Cold Feet

Experiencing cold feet before getting married may be incredibly common, but does that mean you should discount any pre-wedding jitters you may feel?

That depends entirely on your gender, according to a new study. The study, published in the Journal of Family Psychology, asked 232 newlywed couples whether they experienced cold feet prior to getting married.

Then the study’s researchers polled those couples every six months over the course of the first four years of their marriage.

Researchers found a whopping 85 percent of couples experienced some form of cold feet before getting married — whether from the man, the woman or both.

“Women who experienced cold feet were 2.5 times

more likely to get divorced within the first four years.”

But even though men were more likely to experience cold feet than women (47 percent vs. 38 percent), the study found a man’s skittishness doesn’t impact the success of his marriage.

According to the study, men who felt doubts on their wedding day were just as likely to remain married as men who felt secure when they wed.

By contrast, women who experienced cold feet on their wedding day were 2.5 times more likely to get divorced within the first four years of their marriage compared to women who married confidently.

The study also notes divorce isn’t the only factor to consider when evaluating a marriage’s success, as both male and female cold feet predicted lower levels of marital satisfaction, even if the couple chose to stay together.

From: ScienceofRelationships.com