‘Science shows benefits of man-woman marriage’

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Dr Joe Malone, a popular speaker on US university campuses, has researched the scientific basis for the benefits of man-woman marriage. You may not agree with his evolutionary worldview, but we think that his conclusions about the strengths of marriage are still well worth a listen.

oe explains how beneficial man-woman marriage is for men, women and their children. This is partly because humans “have a history of monogamy” which has “been the key to human development”.

Despite culture shifting against lifelong man-woman marriage, Joe states that this does not mean that the benefits of monogamy have been diminished. If anything, the shift towards ‘serial monogamy’ and ‘cohabitation’ has shown clearly how damaging moving away from traditional marriage can be, especially for women. For instance, he points out that ‘hook-up culture’ has been “extremely disruptive” for women, as it “raises their anxiety rates and … their depression rates”. And for men, it has a similar effect to “drug addiction … because it … hits all the same pathways in the brain”.

Joe explains how both men and women gain significant health benefits by getting married and having children. He tells us, for instance, how a mother or father holding their baby produces hormones in their bodies which help with their immune system. And marriage has been shown to reduce the risk of homicide, suicide and alcohol abuse in men.

At C4M, people of all kinds of worldviews and faiths come together to promote marriage, which throughout history and in virtually all human societies has been the union of one man and one woman. No other relationship type comes close in terms of positive outcomes and social benefits. Government, Church and media should join us and once again embrace, promote, and endorse real marriage, as the optimal form of relationship.