The New Long-Distance Relationship

In the past, couples were more likely to accommodate only one partner's job - mostly the man's. But today, couples have dual-incomes, are well educated, professionally minded, and pursuing careers in separate places. It is contributing to the rise in long-distance relationships.

The pressure to live apart for work is worse for younger couples who are still establishing careers.

Living apart is not a guarantee the relationship will come to an end. Long-distance relationships have powerful emotional and intimacy dynamics.

• Research found couples living in different places have more stable and committed relationships, but when they do start living together, they're more likely to break up than couples who lived together all along.
• Long-distance couples were more likely to idealize each other.
• They tend to fight less since there was less to fight about and less time to fight.
• They were also more likely to avoid conflict and withhold their real opinions.

Communication technologies cannot reproduce the physical touch. It is also not suited for seeing how a partner treats other people.

However, studies show that the technological shift gives couples more opportunities to address potentially charged subjects and reduce idealization. Living apart over a long period gives some couples tools that help them deal with future conflicts.