RESEARCH_FILE
Matthijs Kalmijn
University of Amsterdam
Known for:Life-course research on how marriage and parenthood reshape couples' friendship networks and social contacts
SEE THE PRACTICE
Turn a thought this research explains into one clear move.
THE THOUGHT
“We have nothing in common anymore”
YOUR RECORDED RESPONSE
“Her answer to what matters isn't a judgment on mine.”
ONE PRIVATE MOVE
Write down one true thing about your life right now—something you haven't mentioned to her—and read it aloud to yourself to hear if it sounds defensive or actual.
Key findings
- 2003
In survey data on married and cohabiting couples, partners' friendship networks shrink and increasingly overlap over the course of the relationship — consistent with the dyadic withdrawal hypothesis, with joint couple-friends replacing personal friends. Shared friendship networks and the life course: an analysis of survey data on married and cohabiting couples ↗
- 2012
Longitudinal analyses that separate age, marriage, and parenthood effects show the transitions themselves reduce contact with friends — ruling out the idea that the decline merely reflects cohort differences or who selects into marriage. Longitudinal analyses of the effects of age, marriage, and parenthood on social contacts and support ↗