Confluence, risk and liquidity : an empirical investigation of the impact of de-traditionalisation and individualisation on heterosexual marital relationships and 'the way we love now'.

The research aims, through an empirical study, to evaluate the effects of the process of disembedding and individualisation on the quality and longevity of heterosexual marital relationships in contemporary UK society. The impact of these changes on the nature of intimate relationships is understood by Anthony Giddens, to create greater ‘confluence’, by Ulrick Beck and Elisabeth Beck-Gernsheim to expose them to greater ‘risk’ and uncertainty, and by Zygmunt Bauman to make them more ‘liquid’ and fragile.

By conducting a qualitative study of three cohorts of individuals (ten whose marriage dissolved in less than 10 years; ten whose marriage ended after more than 20 years; and a comparative group of intact marriages of more than 20 years duration), the research seeks to assess the extent to which the weakening (or strengthening) of the bonds of personal intimacy are adequately accounted for by these theorists.

The research used semi-structured interviews to elicit a narrative and biographical account of people’s experiences of marriage. It shows that whilst changes are taking place in the nature of intimate relationships, they are not occurring to the extent that the ‘individualisation theorists’ contend, nor always, for the reasons they suggest.
Individualism was expressed less as concern for the self as an ego-centric ‘reflexive project’; rather, it was linked to the construction of an identity where concern for others, relationality and connectedness were important features. This orientation, however, was constrained by structural impediments, and the need to manage risks and uncertainties. The quality and longevity of marriages was adversely affected as a consequence. Nevertheless, individuals sought to hold onto certainties, and traditional values and priorities, and retained allegiances to the idea of marriage. Overall, the degree to which individuals managed to establish and benefit from connections linked to traditions, history and biography is far greater than anticipated by theorists of individualisation.