Why Do We Marry Our Parents? - Midlife is Magical

Do We Marry Someone Like Our Parents?

Have you ever had an argument with your spouse and suddenly, they seem to transform into your mom? During a conflict, have you ever felt like you are screaming at your dad?

And all you can think is : Oh shit, I married my mom.

Marrying Someone Like Our Parents Feels Safe

Real talk: most of us have unresolved issues with one of our parents.

It is no surprise that many of us will marry someone like one of our parents. We will often choose a person that shares many qualities with our frustrating parent. The theory around marrying someone like our parents is based in the idea that we are trying to unconsciously resolve parental conflict. We might choose to marry someone that feels familiar but keeps us in a cycle of dysfunction.

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Main Ideas In This Article:

It is vey common to marry someone like our parents.
May of us have an unconscious radar to find a partner that reminds us of “home” even if the behavior is dysfunctional.
Recognize that you might have marriage problems because you are stuck in a childhood cycle with your partner.

Developing good communication and greater self awareness can help you resolve problems with your partner.

Do You Marry Your Mother?

It is common for me to be in a coaching session with a client, listening to them describe their frustration with their spouse. Small quirks, long term issues seem to pile up and then finally – a light bulb moment!

My client realizes that they married a version of one of their parents. When we have lived in a particular “role” or “persona” for most of our childhood/early adulthood, it is normal to choose a partner that will reinforce that role for us.

Is It Normal To Marry Someone Like Your Parents?

It is common for people to choose life partners who share similarities with their parents. Psychological studies have found that many of us seek out partners who possess the same qualities we associate with our closest family members. However, marriage should be based on much more than just similarity – such as emotional and intellectual connection, shared goals and values, and mutual respect.

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We Repeat What We Don’t Repair

Repetition Compulsion Explained

The concept of repetition compulsion can be confusing to understand. It’s pretty common to wonder, “What is repetition compulsion? How does it affect me?” Whether you are married or single, in a committed relationship or not, understanding this concept can help you gain insight into the psychological aspects your personal relationships.

Repetition compulsion can provide clues as to why some patterns appear to repeat over time — whether they be good habits that support successful relationships or bad attitudes that cause conflict.

It’s Hard To Break Out Of Familiar Cycles and Patterns

Repetition compulsion affects our lives on both conscious and subconscious levels. By understanding this idea a little better, we can improve our communication with others and have healthier connections with friends, family members and romantic partners.

Are you finding yourself in the same unhealthy cycles, even when it comes to your relationships? Repetition compulsion is a psychological phenomenon that explains why we act in certain patterns over and over again.

It occurs when someone repeats self-destructive behaviors or endures situations similar to ones they have experienced before — even if they don’t want to go down this road one more time. While repetition compulsion may sound like a bad thing, there are ways of redirecting these habits and breaking free from them.

Understanding repetition compulsion helps us become conscious of our actions so that we can ultimately break out of old patterns while creating healthier ones going forward.

Personal Growth Can Challenge Your Marriage

It is normal when personal growth is taking place for one spouse to feel like the other spouse isn’t keeping up or doing their part to make changes.

After a couple of sessions, it might become clear that the unhappy spouse married their mom (or dad)! It sounds bananas, but midlife seems to be the time to identify the unhealthy patterns that keep repeating in your marriage.

It Feels Like I Married My Mother

A series of unconscious choices, like a GPS, cause you to zero in on a partner that will represent your most frustrating parent. Many of us will marry our parents, possibly setting us up for a marriage marked by frustration and familiar hurts.

The chemistry of attraction combined with the promise of a fairy tale blind us from seeing that we are pursuing our mom/dad.

In fact, you can marry a man who behaves like your mom, and it will emotionally feel like home. And the reverse is also true, you can marry a woman who behaves like your dad. Typically we won’t exactly replicate our parent, but we have a template based on our childhood environment.

So How Does This Emotional Witchcraft Happen?

We all have caregivers when we are little people. Babies are helpless, relying on a caregiver to nurture them and keep them alive. There is a theory in psychology that identifies how babies “attach” to their caregivers. It is called “Attachment Theory”.

Using simple language, this book explains the hidden science behind our romantic choices. It will help you understand yourself and give you a clear picture of the reasons you are attracted to certain types of partners. Single, married, divorced or dating, this book will help you understand romantic attraction.

When We Marry Someone Like Our Parents, We Are Attempting To Fill An Emotional Need

Most people will attach to their caregiver in one of four ways. Attachment style depends on how the caregiver interacted and met the needs of the baby.

Anxious Attached: baby is unsettled and unsure about getting needs met. Looks to inconsistent caregiver and feels anxious about being connected to caregiver. As a result, this type of person might feel anxious in relationships and might need lots of reassurance from their partner.

Avoidant Attached: baby is not getting her needs met, and as a result she no longer expects to get what she needs from caregiver. She “shuts down” and withdraws into herself, anticipating that she will not get what she needs from others. This type of person might seem withdrawn or unwilling to commit in relationships.

Secure Attached: baby experienced a connected and reliable caregiver. As a result, baby believes that her needs will be met, and she can count on caregivers/people. This person will most likely offer a balanced, reliable partnership.

Disorganized Attached: baby has experienced unreliability and uncertainty with caregivers. Depending on the circumstances, baby will present with anxious behavior wanting to attach or will withdraw to self-protect against disappointment. This person might struggle with wanting to be close to their spouse, and then feel a strong need to withdraw.

The above is a very brief outline of Attachment Theory. Follow this link for a more in-depth discussion of the origin of attachment styles.

Is It Wrong To Marry Someone Like Your Mom?

Not always!

For some of us, marrying our parent is working out well. Sure, we have some normal frustrations within our marriage/partnership, but for the most part marital life is satisfying, supportive and we experience a healthy connection.

And then we have the folks that married their parent, resulting in an unsatisfying, frustrating and possibly combative marriage. These folks find themselves in a very difficult marriage, with generally high levels of unhappiness.

We Marry Our Parents Because Of Brain Bias

Psychology suggests that we choose a spouse that is like our parent for unconscious reasons. Our brains search for two different solutions when we are stuck in an unresolved parental dynamic.

1. Staying safe by ensuring we remain in the known cycle of dysfunction.

2. Attempting to resolve unfinished business with a parent by repeating the cycle with your spouse (Repetition compulsion)

If You Married Your Mom, You Are Normal

Hey, deep breath! You are normal, most of us will marry our parents! Once you understand that your unconscious “relationship radar” choose a parental figure as a spouse, you can begin to see your frustrations in a new light.

Begin to Identify Similar Traits

Identifying behavior traits that are similar between spouse/parent can be an important step. Take some time, without a confrontational argument or accusation, and mentally note the similarities.

There is no need to speak to them out loud during this time of identifying and evaluating. Become aware of the triggers that happen in your relationship, getting curious about the emotions that come up for you.

Spend some time associating the frustrating emotions that re-occur with your spouse and try to find similarities in your parental relationship. Ask yourself: why would I marry my parent? How does that benefit me?

My Friend Married Her Mom

I have a friend that married someone similar to one of her parents. My friend grew up in a family that didn’t discuss emotions or have much flexibility around emotional expression.

Additionally, it was common in her family to tease about personal characteristics. Like many families that was the accepted way of showing love, but it felt very demeaning and painful at times.

Hidden Emotional Messages Might Make Us Marry Our Parents

Unconsciously, she married a man who could not express or receive emotions in a safe healthy way. His preferred behavior was teasing. As time went on, it became a game between her husband and her mom to “tag team tease” this woman, discussing her perceived flaws in sarcastic hurtful manner.

Their teasing was focused on things my friend had done when she was a little child, things that she had no control over but was being teased about as an adult. The mom in this example had a story about my friend that she liked to tell over and over. My friend was a baby when the story happened.

My friends husband picked up on the story and would use it to tease his wife, although the story happened before he knew his wife. My friends mom would join in with the teasing, taking sides with the husband. It was a unhealthy but re-occurring pattern with husband and mom.

If We Marry A Person Like Our Parent, Childhood Hurts Might Not Heal

Teaming up together against my friend, the messages she got was that she was “broken” and not wanted. Even though it was done in a teasing manner, it was hurtful and made my friend feel like her two most foundational relationships were emotionally unsafe.

Eventually my friend divorced her husband, she got tired of being teased and manipulated by his humor.

What Makes Us Choose To Marry Our Parents Even Though It Can Be Painful?

Our brain wants to feel safe, and let’s remember, the brains idea of safety is not always healthy. Patterns and cycles are safe and familiar to our brains.

Humans are wired for connection and community, so when we learn maladaptive ways to connect/get our needs met, we will continue with that unhealthy, but successful behavior.

Historically people have needed a community to stay safe, so our brain pressures us to stay in the known. Fearing the unknown keeps us “safe” but stuck. Being stuck in unhealthy patterns is the most normal thing for all people, our brain wants us to be safe.

How To Change Your Marriage And Stop The Dysfunction

Identify the behaviors that mirror your parent. Look for things like teasing, disrespect, and passive aggression. Many people grew up with parents that didn’t know how to help process feelings. Most parents are emotionally immature due to family cycle of dysfunction.

As a result, we choose a spouse that reinforces our childhood role/feelings. Be a detective and look for patterns.

Check in with yourself when you are feeling activated by your spouse. Slow down and examine the source of the trigger. Does it make you feel like a child? Do you hear the voice of an “authority” or do you feel like you are being told what to do?

If you feel like a child, that is a good clue that there might be a parental link to this trigger. Do some journaling around the idea that you married one of your parents.

Speak up and let your spouse know your concerns. The next time you feel upset with your spouse, take time, and look for clues to help you understand. When you can share in a way that is respectful and clear, ask your spouse to sit down with you. Carefully explain what you have observed, without accusations, and ask your spouse to work with you to shift your marital interactions.

What Happens After We Marry Our Parents?

Like the rest of life, the only thing you have control over is your behavior, attitudes, and actions. As you continue to identify your triggers and work within in yourself to create change, you will begin to heal the unfinished parental business.

As you begin to understand more about your unconscious patterns, be authentic with your spouse. Clear direct communication is the only way to open the door to change in any relationship.

Okay, I Married Someone Like My Mom. Should We Talk About It?

Some people might choose to begin a conversation with their parent about what they have discovered. If you have a parent that can receive truth wrapped in love, go ahead and try it!

But if you have a parent that is defensive and avoids self-examination, it is probably best to skip that conversation. Be grateful for your growth and continue to offer grace to a parent that is self-protective.

Marrying Someone Like Your Parents Might Be A Problem

While it is not necessarily bad to marry someone like your parents, there may be hidden danger in reproducing what you have seen growing up. People who marry someone similar to their parents may subconsciously be looking to recreate the same relationships and dynamics they grew up with.

On the other hand, marrying someone who is the opposite of your parents can be just as problematic, as those people may tend to struggle with feeling resentful of their spouse or feeling disconnected from them. Regardless, it’s a good idea to be aware of potential pitfalls when entering a relationship and make sure that both people are on common ground when it comes to values and expectations for the future.

Self Awareness Is An Important Key To A Happy Marriage

Taking time to self-examine and look for patterns in our behavior is critical for self-growth. Authentic living is the foundation to a healthy marriage. Practicing self-awareness is the best way to show love for ourselves. When we understand ourselves better, we enlarge our capacity to love our partner with greater emotional health and clearer intentions.

Conclusion

Remember, most of us marry our parents! Now that you understand the psychology behind your relationship radar, challenge yourself to make some changes in your behaviors. Invite your partner to consider the hurtful patterns that impact your marriage.