How is the relationship between cohabitation and marital instability best summarized?

• A. Cohabitation always causes instability.
• B. Instability is solely due to cohabitation itself.
• C. Instability may stem from factors other than cohabitation itself.
• D. Cohabitation guarantees stability.

Answer: (C)

Understanding how cohabitation relates to marital instability requires seeing beyond a simple cause-and-effect. Cohabitation often occurs within a broader set of factors—like age at marriage, education, finances, past relationship history, and personal beliefs about commitment—that also influence whether a marriage lasts. Because these influences vary across couples, instability isn’t caused by cohabitation alone. Some couples who live together before marriage have stable, lasting marriages, while others who marry without cohabiting face instability due to those other factors. The best summary is that instability may stem from factors other than cohabitation itself.