Work

Are problems that contribute to divorce present at the start of marriage, or do they emerge over time?

Year: 2015

Type: article

Abstract: Divorced individuals offer explanations for why their relationship ended, yet little is known about the development of these problems during the relationship. Problems that lead to divorce may exist at the beginning of the marriage (enduring dynamics model) or may develop over time (emergent distress model). We asked 40 divorced individuals about the reasons for their divorce and compared the development of problems that did and did not contribute to their divorce over the first few years of their marriage. Results support an emergent distress model for wives; they saw problems that lead to divorce increasing over time, whereas results for husbands indicated that they were less attuned to problems overall, suggesting that wives are the bellwether for relationship problems.

Source: Journal of Social and Personal Relationships

DOI: 10.1177/0265407515617705

Authors: Hannah C. Williamson, Teresa P. Nguyen, Thomas N. Bradbury, Benjamin R. Karney

Institution: University of California, Los Angeles

Language: English

Topic: Attachment and Relationship Dynamics

Subfield: Social Psychology

Field: Psychology

Domain: Social Sciences

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development

Awards: G1622997416, Development and Maintenance of Low-Income Newlywed Marriages, G4755051056, Sources of Change and Stability in Low-Income Black Marriages