Both divorce and remarriage are becoming increasingly more prevalent in today's society. Although there are many commonly thought of reasons for this increase the article that I read states, It is somewhat surprising, then, that remarriages are not generally characterized by poorer relationship quality than first marriages. Research indicates that remarried individuals and those in first marriages do not differ on important indictors of marital quality, such as happiness, interaction, disagreements, or problems (Amato et al., 2007; Bulanda & Brown, 2007) or on long-term trajectories of marital happiness (Kamp Dush, Taylor, & Kroeger, 2008)." In fact, the reasons for the increase in divorce and remarriage are more individual.
According to Whitton, S. W., Stanley, S. M., Markman, H. J. and Johnson, C. A. in their article called, "Attitudes Toward Divocrce, Commitment, and Divorce Proneness in First Marriages and Remarriages, "Couples who remarry are at relatively higher risk for divorce than those in first marriages. (e.g., Bulanda & Brown, 2007). In contrast to 33% of first marriages, 39% of remarriages end in the first 10 years". The reasoning behind this is that couples who have experienced a divorce are prone to ending marriage at early signs of martial distress. Furthermore, those who are remarried with children of their own may feel more allegiance to the children than to their spouse, and thus, choose divorce more quickly. The article calls this the "commitment to marriage" which is defined as the tendency to stay in a marriage even when encountering marital difficulties.
The article (Attitude Towards Divorce, Commitment, and Divorce Proneness in First Marriages and Remarriages) also states that even those who are generally against divorce are more likely to have a more positive attitude toward divorce if they experience it personally. It states that their attitude toward divorce is " defined as perceived acceptability of divorce as a solution to marital distress". Moreover, the individual may experience cognitive dissonance, thus creating a discrepancy between attitude and behavior. To become more comfortable, one may change their attitude, becoming more positive and accepting toward divorce, so it is consistent with their behavior.
Hetherington, E., Cox, M., & Cox, R. (1985). Long-term effects of divorce and remarriage on the adjustment of children. Journal of the American Academy of Child Psychiatry, 24
'Seacombe, K. (2011) Families in their social worlds. 2nd ed. Boston: Prentice Hall
Whitton, S. W., Stanley, S. M., Markman, H. J. and Johnson, C. A. (2013), Attitudes Toward Divorce, Commitment, and Divorce Proneness in First Marriages and Remarriages. Journal of Marriage and Family, 75: 276–287. doi: 10.1111/jomf.12008
Kayla a point brought up in this article was that
ReplyDelete"The reasoning behind this is that couples who have experienced a divorce are prone to ending marriage at early signs of martial distress"
- there seems to be a trend within society today: when things get stressful or too hard to handle. Quit. Is this related to family structure and the high prevalence of divorce? Or just a general defense mechanism that we learn to cope with things? Would be interesting look at that more..
Briandia. you are right it would be interesting to study more into that. As someone who has friends with remarried/divorced parents, I have questioned how their families coped with the issues that were behind the divorce. I do recognize that some people just marry for the wrong reasons. My own birth mother and birth father married for tax reasons, however this was unknown to my birth mom. This marriage ended in divorce, but I do think that if they were to stay together it wouldn't be a good marriage at all. I'd have to say that there are so many reasons that people divorce that it is hard to look at all the hidden meanings. Now if we were to talk about celebrity marriages and their divorces... that would be a whole different posting.
Delete