Acknowledging a mistake does not mean that either social or sexual monogamy will die off. Rather, Coontz speculates, more couples will adopt new relationship modes. Some will feel best embracing both social and sexual monogamy, others will shuffle the deck. Some will negotiate sexual dalliances, others may issue a blanket don’t-ask-don’t-tell policy. “I also think that we should not discount the fact that as the age of marriage rises, people may have had twenty years of premarital sex, and when they marry, will say, ‘I’m tired of this,’” and retire into happy sexual monogamy, she says.
