Quality of marriage: a comparison between golden wedding couples and couples married less than fifty years

The quality of marriage is investigated for a sample of 79 couples living in a midwestern comprehensive retirement community. These 158 older, middle-class men and women are healthy and average 74.8 years of age. Marital length averages 41 years, and 34.8 percent have celebrated their fiftieth wedding anniversary. Marital quality, morale, and sexual behavior are not significantly different for golden wedding couples than for couples married less than 50 years. Couples married less than 50 years spend more time socializing with other couples each week than do those who have passed the 50 year mark; they also have higher levels of sexual interest, and are more likely to have been previously married. All of these couples are happily married, have high morale, and most are still sexually active (62.8 percent).