Measuring Emotional Divorce among Preparatory School Teachers in Karbala Governorate: A Psychological Study in Light of the Gender Variable
Year: 2026
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Aims: This study aimed to investigate the phenomenon of emotional divorce among married preparatory school teachers in Karbala Governorate. It sought to achieve two primary goals: first, to measure the prevalence of emotional divorce within this population; and second, to determine if significant differences in its prevalence exist based on gender (male- female). Methods: A descriptive-analytical design was employed. Data were collected using the emotional divorce scale developed by Al-Fatlawi and Kadhim (2012), whose psychometric properties (validity and reliability) were confirmed for the local context. The scale was administered to a stratified random sample of 489 teachers—226 males and 263 females—drawn from the preparatory schools under the Karbala Education Directorate. Results: Statistical analysis, including one-sample and independent-samples t-tests, revealed that the participating teachers experienced a statistically significant level of emotional divorce. This indicates a prevalent state of emotional coldness, a lack of affective communication, and a psychological gap within their marriages, despite the outward continuation of family life. Furthermore, the results showed no statistically significant gender-based differences, suggesting that male and female teachers experience emotional divorce to a comparable degree. Conclusions: The findings confirm that emotional divorce is a tangible issue within the educational community in Karbala, pointing to a crisis in marital relationships among teachers. This phenomenon may be linked to professional stressors, such as workload and classroom pressures, or broader life stresses that erode marital quality. Crucially, the absence of gender differences reveals emotional divorce as a shared, relational dysfunction rather than a problem affecting one spouse more than the other. This underscores the complexity of the issue and suggests that effective intervention must address the couple as a unit rather than focusing on individuals
Author: Hussein Al Jubouri
Institution: University of Kerbala
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: diamond
OpenAlex ID: W7137067398
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