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Divorce and Remarriage

Additional

factors related

to a young age

of marriage

are a lack of a

college

education and

the addition

of children

before age 20.

Some teenage

couples

marry

because of a

premarital

pregnancy;

statistics indicate a higher divorce rate

among those with a premarital pregnancy

(Lu, 2006).

In addition to age and education,

statistics indicate people in certain careers

are more prone to divorce. High divorce

rates occur in couples who spend a

considerable amount of time apart in job-

related activities. Certain highly stressful

occupations are also associated with a

higher divorce rate: physicians, police

officers, firefighters, or military personnel

(Knox & Schacht, 1999).

Other high-risk factors include

interracial marriage, unemployment,

previous divorce, and a courtship of less

than 6 months (Lu, 2006). It would appear

two of the simplest ways to avoid divorce

are to stay in college and avoid a

premarital pregnancy.

Social-Psychological Factors Related

to Divorce

Based on his groundbreaking work in

behavioral observation methodologies,

John Gottman has developed a method

which predicts, with 94% accuracy, which

newlywed couples will remain married

and which will divorce 4 to 6 years later.

He is also 81% accurate in predicting

which marriages will survive after 7 to 9

years (Gottman, 2000). He has identified

what he refers to as the four types of

behavior which are particularly corrosive

in a marriage:

If left unchecked, criticism and

defensiveness can lead to contempt.

Image from BigstockPhoto.com / diego cervo

1. Criticism: Most marital conflicts start
   with criticism.Wives are more prone
   to criticize than husbands. Criticism
   is presenting a problem as though the
   other person has a defective
   personality. Note that criticism is
   different fromcomplaining, which
   reflects unhappiness without
   attributing it to the other person’s
   personality. The book of Proverbs
   says,“Gentle words cause life and
   health, griping brings
   discouragement (15:4 TLB). Proverbs
   17:9 (TLB) says,“Love forgets
   mistakes; nagging about them parts
   the best of friends.”


2. Defensiveness:Both genders are
   equal-opportunity offenders of this
   predictor of divorce. Basically,
   defensiveness is just what it says it is.
   continued