Gender and wedding type preference affect views of those who get married in a courthouse as opposed to a church. The participants for this study consisted of 198 unmarried, undergraduate students that planned to marry someday. Participants responded to a wedding location scenario then completed a wedding type preference questionnaire, the Life Orientation Test Revised, and a demographics questionnaire. Results revealed that group 1 (participants who were high on traditional wedding preference and received the scenario of courthouse wedding ceremony), rated the hypothetical couple as having a higher chance of being happy after 25 years of marriage and being more in love than group 2 (high traditional and church scenario), group 3 (low traditional and courthouse scenario), and group 4 (low traditional and church scenario). For participants whose parents were divorced, the age of the participant when their parents divorced was a significant predictor of predicted happiness and length of marriage.
","abstract_html":"<p>Gender and wedding type preference affect views of those who get married in a courthouse as opposed to a church. The participants for this study consisted of 198 unmarried, undergraduate students that planned to marry someday. Participants responded to a wedding location scenario then completed a wedding type preference questionnaire, the Life Orientation Test Revised, and a demographics questionnaire. Results revealed that group 1 (participants who were high on traditional wedding preference and received the scenario of courthouse wedding ceremony), rated the hypothetical couple as having a higher chance of being happy after 25 years of marriage and being more in love than group 2 (high traditional and church scenario), group 3 (low traditional and courthouse scenario), and group 4 (low traditional and church scenario). For participants whose parents were divorced, the age of the participant when their parents divorced was a significant predictor of predicted happiness and length of marriage.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Rudd, Karen Sue"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"MA (Master of Arts)","degree_level":"Thesis - unrestricted","degree_discipline":"Psychology","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2003,"date_issued":"2003-05-03T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2003-05-03T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:28Z","subjects":["Happiness","Love","Marriage","Gender","Relationship","Optimism","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/754","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Rudd, Karen Sue"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2003-05-03T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Psychology"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - unrestricted"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["MA (Master of Arts)"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Happiness","Love","Marriage","Gender","Relationship","Optimism","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:rights","label":"Dc Rights","values":["Copyright by the authors."]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/1911/viewcontent/RuddK041103f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/754"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Gender and wedding type preference affect views of those who get married in a courthouse as opposed to a church. The participants for this study consisted of 198 unmarried, undergraduate students that planned to marry someday. Participants responded to a wedding location scenario then completed a wedding type preference questionnaire, the Life Orientation Test Revised, and a demographics questionnaire. Results revealed that group 1 (participants who were high on traditional wedding preference and received the scenario of courthouse wedding ceremony), rated the hypothetical couple as having a higher chance of being happy after 25 years of marriage and being more in love than group 2 (high traditional and church scenario), group 3 (low traditional and courthouse scenario), and group 4 (low traditional and church scenario). For participants whose parents were divorced, the age of the participant when their parents divorced was a significant predictor of predicted happiness and length of marriage.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Expected Happiness, Love, and Longevity of Marriage: Effects of Wedding Type Preference, Gender, and Location of the Wedding Ceremony."]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Rudd, Karen Sue"],"dc:date.issued":["2003-05-03T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["Gender and wedding type preference affect views of those who get married in a courthouse as opposed to a church. The participants for this study consisted of 198 unmarried, undergraduate students that planned to marry someday. Participants responded to a wedding location scenario then completed a wedding type preference questionnaire, the Life Orientation Test Revised, and a demographics questionnaire. Results revealed that group 1 (participants who were high on traditional wedding preference and received the scenario of courthouse wedding ceremony), rated the hypothetical couple as having a higher chance of being happy after 25 years of marriage and being more in love than group 2 (high traditional and church scenario), group 3 (low traditional and courthouse scenario), and group 4 (low traditional and church scenario). For participants whose parents were divorced, the age of the participant when their parents divorced was a significant predictor of predicted happiness and length of marriage.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://dc.etsu.edu/context/etd/article/1911/viewcontent/RuddK041103f.pdf","https://dc.etsu.edu/etd/754"],"dc:rights":["Copyright by the authors."],"dc:subject":["Happiness","Love","Marriage","Gender","Relationship","Optimism","Psychology","Social and Behavioral Sciences"],"dc:title":["Expected Happiness, Love, and Longevity of Marriage: Effects of Wedding Type Preference, Gender, and Location of the Wedding Ceremony."],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Psychology"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - unrestricted"],"thesis:degree_name":["MA (Master of Arts)"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:19:28Z"}