The National Marriage Project has monitored marital health and well-being in America for decades. In July, the “2019 State of our Unions: iFidelity: Interactive Technology and Relationship Faithfulness” report revealed some interesting findings.
This report is a collaborative effort between the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia, the Wheatley Institution and the School of Family Life at Brigham Young University. Utilizing a YouGov survey of 2,000 married, cohabiting and single Americans and findings from the General Social Survey, researchers examined relationship attitudes and behaviors online and in real life.
The Silent/Greatest Generation, who are 75 or older, were included because this is a nationally representative sample. Furthermore, a Pew Research Center study reports that 60% of seniors aged 75 to 79 and 44% of those 80 or older use the internet. Many older seniors are now dating or cohabiting, either because they are widowed, divorced or never married, so this issue cuts across age groups.
The report offers three key findings.
First, a majority of Americans in all generations express support for sexual fidelity in their relationships and report they are sexually faithful in real life. However, today’s young adults are markedly more likely to cross online boundaries related to sex and romance. For example, 18% of millennial participants engaged in sexual talk online with someone besides their partner. Only 3% of Greatest/Silent Generation participants, 6% of baby boomers and 16% of Gen Xers did so.