This is an important stage in preparing for marriage and choosing a spouse. The role of this stage has undergone significant changes in the present century, so that now there is a strong tendency to neglect pre-marital courtship in modern boys and girls (the latter are largely forced). S. V. Kovalev identifies three most important functions of this period, which correspondingly reflect the three main and chronologically relatively consecutive stages of the beginning of family life.
1. During the entire courtship, there is an accumulation of joint impressions and experiences. This is the emotional potential of the subsequent family life, the store of feelings from which the spouses will draw strength and joy in difficult periods of marriage. Continue reading