Get Married: A Conversation with Dr. Brad Wilcox

Welcome to the Modern Husbands podcast, where any combination of Dr. Bruce Ross, Christian Sherrill, and Brian Page host national experts who share winning ideas to manage money and the home as a team.

Today we welcome Dr. Brad Wilcox. Dr. Wilcox is a Professor of Sociology at the University of Virginia, where he directs the National Marriage Project and a senior fellow at the Institute for Family Studies. Wilcox also currently serves as a nonresident senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He has been a research fellow at Yale University, a research associate at Princeton University, and a Civitas Fellow at the Brookings Institution.

Today’s discussion will center around his new book, Get Married, and the evidence-based ideas highlighting the advantages of marriage and how to maintain a strong and happy marriage.

Enjoy the show.

0:00:00 Introduction
0:01:07 Fast Facts: A fun and fast series of quick Q&A:
Men MUST be the financial provider or men must be CAPABLE of being the financial provider?
What percentage of marriages end in divorce?
What percentage of American adults are married?
True or false: Couples who take more date nights are happier and have more stable marriages.
True or false: Since 1980, the divorce rate has increased.
True or false: The marriage rate has fallen about 65 percent in the last half century.
True or false: Couples who identified more with a “team” mindset, who regularly sacrificed for one another, and, and who shared the same bank account and last name, were more likely to be satisfied with their sex.
0:02:33 Cutting across all socioeconomic, what is the greatest predictor of happiness?
0:03:53 Which groups most commonly contain the happiest spouses?
0:06:00 How do you differentiate stability and happiness in marriage?
0:06:38 Let’s assume you're answering questions after one of your lectures at the University of Virginia. One college student strongly believes that the first priority in finding a spouse is ensuring it is your soulmate. Another student argues that the happiest marriages are not spouses who are soulmates, but rather put their family first. Who is right, and why?
0:08:38 The importance of weekly date nights
0:13:49 Which spousal approach leads to a happier marriage: We Before Me or Me Before We? Why?
0:18:43 What can happen when a husband only brings home the bacon and fails to help manage the home and spend too little time with your spouse?
0:21:02 What are the four behaviors that Gottman came to describe as the “Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse,” that is, harbingers of marital failure?
0:30:34: From your perspective, what are the five pillars upon which they are forging strong and stable family-first marriages?
0:35:58: Where can listeners purchase your book, Get Married?

Purchase Get Married: https://www.harpercollins.com/products/get-married-brad-wilcox?variant=41059498917922

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