Doing Some Soul-Mate Searching

0 Comments | Insight on the News, July 23, 2001 | by Stephen Goode

It may be that it's the most romantic generation to come along in some time. Or maybe it's just a generation fed up with the high and ever-climbing rate of divorce among its parents. Whatever the reason, Americans in their 20s who never have wed yearn to marry someone who shares their innermost hopes rather than someone who has a great deal of money or with whom they share a similar religious or social background.

Those were the findings of "Who Wants to Marry a Soul Mate?" a recent poll conducted by the National Marriage Project under the directorship of David Popenoe at Rutgers University in New Jersey. And indeed, among single Americans in their 20s interviewed in the survey, 94 percent said what they desire "first and foremost" in a spouse is a soul mate.

What may be more surprising is that most were confident they would find such a spouse. Of those surveyed, 88 percent said they believe there is "a special person, a soul mate, waiting for you somewhere out there," and 87 percent said they'd find that person when the time comes for them to marry.