The National Institute for the Family sent questionnaires to 4000 couples who had attended Marriage Encounter weekends between 1965 and 1989.  The survey concludes…

Major improvement in Family Life resulting from

Worldwide Marriage Encounter Weekends

What’s one way to improve relations with your children?  Leave them for the weekend, according to a major survey spanning twenty five years of Worldwide Marriage Encounter marriage enrichment weekends.

The survey, designed to determine the effectiveness of the Marriage Encounter Weekend experience in enhancing a couple’s relationship, showed a surprising corollary finding:  nine out of ten couples reported significant improvement in their family interaction after they attended a Marriage Encounter weekend.  Many noted that the improvement remained even years later.

The survey was commissioned by Worldwide Marriage Encounter, a non-profit movement developed to offer couples a way to enhance communications and their marriage in general. 

Donald B. Conroy, NIF project director, said the finding on improved life wasn’t expected, but shouldn’t be too surprising.  Even though children are not directly involved in the Marriage Encounter experience, “Conroy said  “if the parents have taken a major step in improving their relationship, it stands to reason that the rest of the family will benefit by a spin-off effect.”

More than half of the respondents to the lengthy questionnaire rated their weekend experience as “excellent”, with another third classifying it as “rather good” at improving their marriage in a number of important areas.

Examining the program for over two decades shows both immediate positive effects and long-term effects on marriages,  said Conroy, “ we find this a remarkable result, considering the wide diversity of people who attend the program.”

Conroy said that another key finding was fears commonly expressed by individuals before the weekend experience proved unfounded in all but a small number of attenders.  Women worried unnecessarily about stirring up problems with their husbands, because of the weekend’s emphasis on communications.  Men were especially relieved that they didn’t have to participate in group sharing.

Improvements in five major areas

According to Conroy, the survey indicated varying degrees of immediate and long-term improvement in relationships in five areas.  They are…intimacy and closeness, 84% noted a “high” improvement; 70% maintained that improvement a year to several years after their weekend experience…communications, 84% indicated a major improvement both immediately and years later…sexual relationship, 67% noted an immediate major improvement , with another 26% claiming at least moderate improvement…respect for each other, 86% noted marked improvement with the percentage slipping only slightly to 82% even years later…increased spirituality, 70% reported a greater openness to God and prayer as a result of the weekend.  This is the only category that actually showed an increase…to 72%, after several years had passed.

An effect on the Church

A significant side effect of the Marriage Encounter Movement, according to the survey, was a deepening of religious practice, including greater involvement in parish activities.  Eight out of ten husbands showed weekly involvement in religious worship, while nine out of ten wives show similar involvement.

In addition, couples who experienced a Marriage Encounter weekend displayed a rise in lay leadership in various areas, including liturgical ministry, religious education, marriage preparation and evangelization.

Conroy noted that results of the survey showed no major differences between couples who attended the weekend in the’70’s and those who did so in the 80’s.  We saw strong satisfaction and a lasting effect regardless of how long ago a couple participated.

From a bottom line perspective, Conroy concluded, “ it seems clear that even with the very busy lifestyles many two-earner couples lead, and perhaps because of those lifestyles, a small investment of time in this weekend program may be one that pays dividends for the rest of their lives.”

 “The Marriage Encounter Weekend/Program stands as the central positive experience of most couples.  Over half of the couples participating in the weekend program consider their experience of it as excellent .  Another third of all couples reported it as rather good .

Together, these two categories verify that the Marriage Encounter experience is a positive marriage enrichment experience for nine out of ten couples.”

©Worldwide Marriage Encounter, 2007

Maintained by Dave Lauzau, dlauzau@lauzau.com