Marriage as a pure relationship: Exploring the link between premarital cohabitation and divorce in Canada

Research in various countries, including Canada, indicates that premarital cohabitation is linked to a higher risk of divorce. A recent substantive theory of Anthony Giddens develops concepts such as the ''pure relationship'' in order to explain the emergence of informal and unstable intimate unions in modern society. This paper describes and measures the ''pure relationship'' concept by using attitudes obtained in a major Canadian survey. A model of divorce that specifies these attitudes entirely accounts for the association between premarital cohabitation and divorce. The paper's conclusion is that attitudes consistent with Giddens pure relationship are strong predictors of divorce.