This summer, I had a painful and somewhat unexpected experience while visiting my recently-divorced mother’s house for the first time in three years with my wife and four children. It was quickly evident that my oldest two children had a strong recollection of some of…
Central to life is decision-making. Each day we face a variety of decisions, and some of these decisions can have a substantial impact on our happiness and our relationships. Accompanying these decisions are often pressures that we feel from family, friends, romantic partners, and our…
Throughout the course of our lives, we all experience violations of love, trust, and loyalty, and there are certainly times we may feel that our relationships are unfair. Like commitment, I have often wondered what the implications would be for our relationships, our families, and…
My proposal was from my childhood dreams! My fiancé proposed in front of Cinderella’s Castle at Walt Disney Worlds Magic Kingdom. It was a moment I will remember and cherish for the rest of my life. However, the journey to my engagement and dream marriage…
On April 27th, ten members on our research team attended the Illinois Council on Family Relations (ILCFR) 2018 Annual Conference in Normal, Illinois at Heartland Community College. Dr. Sibley and five our research team members (Amie Kahovec, Kelli Kohlstedt, Taylor Lupo, Hillary Schraufnagel, Hanna Stoffel)…
On April 18th eight members of our research team attended the Undergraduate Research and Artistry Day (URAD 2018) at Northern Illinois University to present our research on Pre-dating relationships and the ever-increasing age at first marriage. As a research team we specifically explore decision-making in…
In the book, The All-or-Nothing Marriage: How the Best Marriages Work, psychology professor Eli J. Finkel offers an interesting and research based approach on marriage today. This book explores marriage in the modern day, and makes a case for our expectations in marriage being higher than…
I still remember the phone call like it was yesterday. As I was preparing to leave for the university on a warm September morning in 2015, I received an unexpected call from my mother. In a very emotional conversation, she shared the devastating news that…
Dating and forming romantic relationships during the age of ambiguity can be incredibly confusing, especially if your romantic partner seems uninterested in a committed relationship. As a research team we have had frequent discussions about the missed opportunities (see here and here), and emotional toll…
Many people hope that one day they will be lucky enough to get married and build their ideal future with a partner that will be with them for the rest of their life. Some recent research indicates that married people are more satisfied with their…
Have you ever wondered why someone has a pattern of breaking-up and getting back together with their romantic partner? Although rekindling a relationship that you once had may be comfortable and familiar, it also poses detrimental consequences for future relationship stability. In a time where…
Many things in life require people to decide between two or more options. Some decisions may be small, while others can change your life dramatically. Yet, in the end it’s how you react to your choices that makes all the difference. Recently, our research team…
In May 1967 a song credited to Frankie Vallie the lead singer of the band The Four Seasons released a song called “Can’t Take My Eyes Off You” which quickly shot up to #2 on the Billboard Hot 100 for that week. Some words in…
As humans we have a natural desire to feel that we belong, and we find social acceptance to be significantly rewarding and social rejection to be considerably threatening. I think this is especially true for emerging adults (18-29 years-old). In my experience, emerging adults are…
As an assistant professor in Human Development and Family Sciences at Northern Illinois University, I have the unique opportunity to teach upcoming generations about marriage and family relationships. But teaching about these subjects can be demanding, and I often feel like I am at the front…
Dr. Sibley, Amie Kahovec, Hanna Stoffel, and myself had an amazing time at the Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood (SSEA) 2017 Conference in Washington D.C. at the Hyatt Regency Washington on Capitol Hill. This was such an amazing opportunity that was given to…
As a child and adolescent, my parents always made sure we had a home cooked meal and ate together as a family, no matter how busy each of us were. Until I went to college, I would say we ate together six out of seven…
This week from November 1st – November 5th, I will be presenting with a portion of our research team (Amie Kahovec, Hillary Schraufnagel, Hanna Stoffel) two of our research papers at the 8th biennial Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood Conference in Washington D.C.…
Welcome to Decide To Commit! My name is Dr. Scott Sibley and I am an associate professor at Northern Illinois University in Human Development and Family Sciences, and also a licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. I built this website with the help of my research team to provide a creative outlet to highlight our research, and to offer relationship education for those interested in romantic relationships.
As a researcher I am specifically interested in commitment in couple relationships, romantic relationship formation, marriage, and decision-making in the emerging adult (18-29 year-old) population. Again, welcome to our blog!
