The All-or-Nothing Marriage — Eli J. Finkel

Finkel writes that while “the institution of marriage in America is struggling ... the best marriages today are better than the best marriages of earlier eras; indeed, they are the best marriages that the world has ever known.”

In The All-or-Nothing Marriage, Eli Finkel, a professor of psychology at Northwestern University, traces the history of the institution over what he sees as three thematic eras: marriage for practical reasons, marriage for love, marriage for self-expression/fulfillment/meaning.

“Marriage has a self-expressive emphasis that places a premium on spouses helping each other meet their authenticity and personal-growth needs,” he writes. “The pursuit of self-expression through marriage simultaneously makes achieving marital success harder and the value of doing so greater.”