If you're serving burgers and Bud Light at your backyard wedding, don't worry. You and your spouse may have the last laugh. A new study found that couples who spend less on their wedding tend to have longer-lasting marriages than those who splurge. The study, by two economics professors at Emory University, found a similar correlation between less-expensive engagement rings and lower divorce rates. The study's authors didn't examine why, although they floated a few theories. "It could be that the type of couples who have a ... (cheap wedding) are the type that are a perfect match for each other," said Professor Hugo M. Mialon, who co-authored the study with Andrew M. Francis. "Or it could be that having an inexpensive wedding relieves young couples of financial burdens that may strain their marriage," he said. The research was based on a detailed survey completed by 3,151 adults in the United States who are, or have been, married. The authors believe theirs is the first academic study to examine the correlation between wedding expenses and the length of marriages. Specifically, the study found that women whose wedding cost more than $20,000 divorced at a rate roughly 1.6 times higher than women whose wedding cost between $5,000 and $10,000. And couples who spent $1,000 or less on their big day had a lower than average rate of divorce. The study won't be cheered by the booming wedding industry, which encourages couples to spend freely on everything from invitations and flowers to videographers and Champagne. Couples in the United States spent an average of $29,858 for their big day in 2013 -- a record high -- according to a survey of 13,000 brides and grooms by wedding website TheKnot.com. "The wedding industry has long associated lavish weddings with longer-lasting marriages. Industry advertising has fueled norms that create the impression that spending large amounts on the wedding is a signal of commitment or is necessary for a marriage to be successful," Francis told CNN in an e-mail. "Overall, our findings provide little evidence to support the validity of the wedding industry's general message that connects expensive weddings with positive marital outcomes," he said. Planning a wedding? In addition to slashing costs, you might want to invite those extra co-workers and far-flung cousins, too. The Emory study also found that the greater the number of people who attend a wedding, the lower the rate of divorce. "This could be evidence of a community effect, i.e., having more support from friends and family may help the couple to get through the challenges of marriage," Francis said. "Or this could be that the type of couples who have a lot of friends and family are also the type that tend not to divorce as much."
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據(jù)美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)報道,如果你僅有能力在你的后院婚禮上提供漢堡和百威清啤?別擔心,你和你的伴侶可能會笑到最后。 新的研究表明,在婚禮上開銷更小的夫婦婚姻通常比這些鋪張浪費的夫婦婚姻持續(xù)得更長久。這份由埃默里大學的兩位經(jīng)濟學教授所完成的研究,找到了低價婚戒和低離婚率之間的聯(lián)系。 盡管研究者們提出了一些理論,但他們并沒有找出原因所在。 “可能,恩,這些結(jié)婚費用低的夫婦正好找到了適合對方的另一半,”與安德魯·M·弗蘭西斯教授一同研究的雨果·M·米亞隆教授說道。 “也或者不昂貴的婚禮能夠緩解財政上可能給婚姻帶來的負擔,”他又說道。 這份研究基于3151位已婚美國人士的詳細問卷。研究者們相信這是第一份婚禮費用與婚姻持續(xù)時間長短關系方面的學術研究。 研究發(fā)現(xiàn),這些婚禮開銷超過2萬美元的女士的離婚率比這些婚禮開銷介于5000美元到1萬美元之間的女士的離婚率幾乎高了近1.6倍。而婚禮開銷在1000美元以內(nèi)的夫婦們的離婚率遠低于平均離婚率。 正處于蓬勃發(fā)展時期的婚禮產(chǎn)業(yè)對這份調(diào)查研究當然不會感到高興?;閼c產(chǎn)業(yè)鼓勵新婚夫婦慷慨地將錢花費在請柬、花束、電影攝像還有香檳上?;閼c網(wǎng)站TheKnot.com對1.3名新人的調(diào)查顯示,2013年,美國新婚夫婦的平均婚禮開銷為29858美元。 “婚慶產(chǎn)業(yè)一直把奢華的婚禮和長久的婚姻聯(lián)系在一起。行業(yè)廣告刺激社會規(guī)范,給人留下的印象就是:婚禮高消費是承諾的象征,也是婚姻成功的必要因素。”弗蘭克斯在給美國有線電視新聞網(wǎng)(CNN)的信件中這樣說道。 弗蘭克斯說,“總的來說,婚慶產(chǎn)業(yè)傳達著這樣的一個普遍信息,那就是高昂的婚禮開銷和幸福的婚姻之間有著必然的聯(lián)系,而我們的調(diào)查鮮有證據(jù)證明其正確性?!?/p> 正在計劃婚禮?婚禮中除了高昂的開銷,你可能想邀請同事們和遠房親戚。埃默里的研究也發(fā)現(xiàn),來參加婚禮的賓客人數(shù)越多,這對夫婦的離婚率就越低。 “這可能是社區(qū)效應,比如,來自朋友和家人的支持可以幫助這對夫婦克服婚姻的挑戰(zhàn),”弗蘭西斯說。“或者也可能這類夫婦有很多婚姻長久的朋友和家人?!?/p>
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