Reasons Why Men Are Increasingly Avoiding Marriage

A growing number of men these days are steering clear of marriage. It might be easy to classify these people as those who simply want to live without ever settling down, but that is not always the case for why men do not want to get married. There are a lot of psychological and societal reasons for it that might surprise you.

We at Bright Side prepared a list of these reasons to hopefully help you understand men’s reasonings a little better. But that’s not all: at the end of the article, you will also find a bonus on why it is actually beneficial for men to settle down in many ways.

1. They don’t feel a lot of pressure to get married.

There is mainly no pressure from friends or family for a man to get married, especially when they are still young. This widely contradicts the experience of women who often get asked about marriage and get pushed to it.

2. However, there is a lot of pressure when it comes to proposing.

In a heterosexual relationship, men are usually the ones who are expected to propose, and to them it can be a pretty stressful experience. 40% of men voiced their concern over the expectations their partner has regarding the engagement ring, for example.

3. Men believe that their wife has the right to tell them what to do, while a girlfriend does not.

Interestingly enough, men are afraid that after getting married their wife will tell them what to do. This, however, is not the case for the relationship before marriage, which suggests men feel that their partner does not have a right to control them in any way unless there is a bigger commitment.

4. Men usually have to drastically change their behavior after they get married.

According to research, both husband and wife have attitude changes after getting married. Men have a major shift in their lives when they start seeing themselves as protectors and providers. Marriage is the ultimate commitment, so it requires a lot of sacrifices. There can be a lot of benefits to being single, and men feel like they have more to lose than women.

5. Men fear getting a divorce more than never getting married.

One survey showed that men are not afraid of marriage in general, but they are afraid of a bad marriage. A lot of people have experienced watching their parents and other loved ones get divorced, so men do not wish to settle for anything less than perfection.

6. Men do not know about the benefits of getting married.

With the high divorce rate and a lot of anxiety when it comes to marriage, a man can wonder why he even needs to get married at all. However, marriage is extremely beneficial for men in multiple ways:

• Contrary to the belief that marriage will affect your career, married men earn more money than anyone else, including single men.

• Marriage has a great positive influence on men’s mental health, reducing loneliness and depression.

• Married men live longer and healthier lives than single men.

• Men can get these benefits even from mediocre marriages, unlike women.

Several male celebrities also expressed why they do not wish to get married.

Jon Hamm dated Jennifer Westfeldt for 18 years before officially splitting up in 2015. When he was asked about marriage, he said that neither of them had a good example of what marriage is in their families. He also noted that he believed people should get married only when they are ready to have kids, which he did not want at the time.

Keanu Reeves has a personal reason for not getting married: in 1999, his girlfriend Jennifer Syme got pregnant with his kid, but she gave birth to a stillborn child. They broke up, but eventually found a way to get over this tragedy and reconcile, however unfortunately she passed away a year later. It left a scar on Keanu, and he believes that it is too late for him now to have kids. He has been dating the visual artist Alexandra Grant since 2019, and the couple does not seem to have any plans to get married.

Leonardo DiCaprio is not opposed to marriage, but he is in no rush to pop the question. When asked about him still being single, the actor answered that marriage “cannot be predicted” and planned, so it will just happen when it’s time for it to happen. As of now, he has been in a relationship with actress Camila Morrone since 2017.

Can you share your experience with married life? Do you think it’s okay to be in a long-term relationship without ever getting married?