'n Kruiskulturele ondersoek na voorspellers van jong volwasse studente se houdings teenoor die huwelik

English: Lifestyles and interpersonal relationships have changed around the world, including South Africa. There has been a decline of marriage rates, a postponement of marriage, and an increase in the cohabitation and divorce rates. Not only has there been a change in lifestyles, but also in the norms and rules regarding behavior that is perceived as appropriate. These tendencies lead to the fear that the institution of marriage was disintegrating. Seen in the light of these changes, the focus of this research was to determine which factors are the best predictors of students' attitudes towards marriage. This research was conducted amongst young adult students of both genders, and different ethnic groups, ages, year groups, and faculties of the University of the Free State. To determine which factors were the best predictors of students' attitudes towards marriage, the following variables were included: 1. Biographical information: • Gender • Ethnic group • Age • Academic status • Marriage status • Parents' marriage status • The quality of the parents' relationship • Conflict in the family • Religious affiliation • Participation in religious activities 2. Attitudes towards cohabitation • The students had positive attitudes towards marriage and negative attitudes towards cohabitation. • It was computed with multiple regression that all the variables predicted 24.23% of the total variance of students' attitudes towards marriage. • Five significant predictors were identified, namely the participation in religious activities, attitudes towards cohabitation, ethnic group, conflict in the family and gender. • The more students participated in religious activities, the more positive their attitudes were towards marriage and the more negative their attitudes were towards cohabitation. • The more positive the students' attitudes towards cohabitation were, the more negative their attitudes were towards marriage. • White students' attitudes towards marriage were more positive than those held by black students, while black students had more positive attitudes towards cohabitation. • Increased family conflict lead to students' attitudes towards marriage being more negative and their attitudes towards cohabitation being more positive. • Men had more positive attitudes than females towards marriage as well as cohabitation. These results indicate that, due to positive attitudes towards marriage amongst young adults, the institution of marriage is alive and well.