Is Pornography to Blame For the High Divorce Rate?

Ever since the invention of pornography, politicians and the public alike have expressed concerns about the potential negative effects that porn has on those who view it. In particular, many people worry that exposure to porn is destructive to people’s romantic and sexual relationships. This concern was seemingly validated by a recent study reporting that Playboy magazine was the “cause” of up to 25% of all divorces that occurred in the United States in the 1960s and 70s. Could this really be the case? Is exposure to porn destroying our love lives?

Click to read more ...

Kim Kardashian’s Divorce: Khloe the Homewrecker

Whether or not the allegations of cheating are true, there was definitely another woman in Kris Humphries and Kim Kardashian’s marriage: Khloe Kardashian. Khloe was not Kris’s mistress, but Kris constantly compared Kim to Khloe. Khloe, who is married to NBA star Lamar Odom, has given up aspects of her career to spend more time with her husband, especially when they were still newlyweds. Kris has said that it is great that Kim has Khloe as a role model in her life and has told Kim that she should be more like Khloe, suggesting that Kris sees Khloe as a better “NBA wife” than Kim.

Click to read more ...

Kim Kardashian’s Divorce: Science Saw it Coming

Avid readers of SofR who are also following the Kim Kardashian and Kris Humphries’ marriage fiasco unfold on reality TV probably understand why the marriage didn’t work. Many of the factors that contribute to relationship dissolution are evident in their relationship and have been previously discussed on the site.

Click to read more ...

Give Yourself a Break: How to Cope with a Recent Divorce

Breaking up is stressful, but greater self-compassion helps individuals cope with their own marital separations. Over 100 middle-aged adults spoke about a recent marital separation during a 4 minute stream-of-consciousness recording. Based on judges’ ratings, participants who expressed greater self-kindness (e.g., “you have to…just forgive yourself”), mindfulness (e.g., “you just have to deal with reality”), and common humanity (e.g., “tell yourself you’re not the only person to experience this”) reported less stress 9 months later. 

Sbarra, D. A, Smith, H. L., & Mehl, M. R. (in press). When leaving your ex, love yourself: Observational ratings of self-compassion predict the course of emotional recovery following marital separation. Psychological Science.

The Politics of Love

When looking for partners, we are attracted to others who are similar to us. Whether the similarity lies in personality, values, or political views, individuals tend to seek those with ideals comparable to their own. However, in a recent survey of college students, the majority indicated they’d be willing to date someone with a political affiliation different than their own.

Click to read more ...

Parents’ Divorce Affects Kids’ Future Relationships

When parents divorce, does it influence their kid's views about divorce and the stability of their future adult romantic relationships? It depends on how children view mom and dads’ relationship prior to the divorce. Those who recalled observing their parents fight had more favorable views of divorce as young adults. But those who saw less conflict prior to the divorce had more negative views of divorce and experienced more stable relationships as adults.

Cui, M., Fincham, F. D., & Durtschi, J. A. (2011). The effect of parental divorce on young adults’ romantic relationship dissolution: What makes a difference? Personal Relationships, 18, 410-426.

“I Do…for Now”: Introducing Temporary Marriage Licenses

Legislators in Mexico proposed a new way to lower divorce rates: temporary marriage licenses. The controversial new law, currently under consideration, allows couples to decide how long they want their marriage contracts to last (two years is the minimum). After that period of time, if the couple is still happy, they can renew their marriage contract. But if they aren’t happy, the contract simply expires and couples are free to end the marriage without having to get divorced (read the full story here).

Click to read more ...

Marriage and Divorce: A New Window to Weight Gain?

Marriage and divorce alter our lives in a number of ways, and recent research suggests that our waistlines are among the first things to change in response to these events.¹  However, men and women appear to respond differently to these relationship transitions, especially when it comes to experiencing a significant weight increase. Specifically, women are more likely to pack it on after marriage, while men are more likely to do so after divorce.

Click to read more ...

Divorce Can Be a Real Killer

Divorce isn’t fun, but can it be deadly? To test this possibility, researchers analyzed dozens of studies that included over 750,000 divorcees (i.e., people who have divorced) and millions of married participants. When divorcees were compared to married individuals, those who divorced had an increased risk of early death, especially younger folks and men. Someone should be sure to share these results with Jennifer Lopez and Marc Anthony.  

Sbarra, D. A., Law, R. W., & Portley, R. M. (2011).  Divorce and death: A meta-analysis and research agenda for clinical, social, and health psychology.  Perspectives on Psychological Science, 6(5), 454–474.

The Museum of Broken Relationships

When we launch the SofR Study Abroad Program the first stop will be at London's Museum of Broken Relationships. In the meantime, we hope our friends in the UK will check it out for us and report back.

We're especially interested in seeing the Slovenian "Divorce Day Mad Dwarf" and "An Ex Axe" from Germany.

See more about the museum in this video.

Is the Unemployment Rate Tied to the Divorce Rate?

If you’re like most people, you probably read the question posed in the title of this article and thought, “Of course!” And you would be right—there is indeed a statistical association between the unemployment rate and the divorce rate. But what is the nature of that association? Is unemployment related to an increase or a decrease in the number of divorces? Unfortunately, that question is somewhat more difficult to answer. So far this year, scientists have released two studies on this topic and have come to two seeming different conclusions. 

Click to read more ...

Visualizing the State of Marriage

We've said it before, but it bears repeating: WE LOVE DATA. And we really like data when it's visually captivating. Here's an interesting graphic representing tidbits about marriage in the United States over the last five decades. One of the more alarming trends is the rising divorce rate for those with low socioeconomic status relative to the economically privileged, also known as the "marriage gap," proving once again that being poor sucks.

<-- click on the image to the left to supersize it.

Click to read more ...

Relationship Conflict: Leaving the Fight In the Car

Maryhope here again, offering up my personal life in the name of science (actually, I think that might be the definition of grad school). Anyway, Ethan, my husband, and I were recently invited to a friend’s house for dinner—an exciting prospect in a city that even after 4 years still feels new to us. Ethan was going to pick me up after drinks with his friends, then we’d head over to the dinner party. No problem. Well Ethan was late. Then he was later. I got mad. Then I got madder.

Click to read more ...

Does Facebook Cause Divorce and Infidelity?

Recently, "a new study" showing that facebook is increasingly given as a reason for divorce has been making its way around the internet. Does Facebook cause cheating and divorce?

Click to read more ...

Matt Damon, Emily Blunt, and Love at First Sight

Countless books, songs, and movies have rapturously portrayed the idea that you might one day look across the room, lock eyes with a stranger, and know instantly that you two are meant to be together forever. This phenomenon is portrayed in the movie The Adjustment Bureau in which Matt Damon’s character meets Emily Blunt’s character briefly in a bathroom and is thereafter willing to defy scary men in suits who control the world in order to be with her. 

So what does science have to say about love at first sight?

Click to read more ...

Do Happy Teens Divorce More?

A recent article indicates teenagers who were most happy were also more likely to divorce as adults. But remember: correlation doesn't equal causation! It's probably the case that teenage happiness is associated with the self-confidence, support, and enpowerment to leave bad relationships as an adult; not that happiness itself causes divorce.

Click here to read more about these findings on the HuffingtonPost.com.

Richards, M., & Huppert, F. A. (2011). Do positive children become positive adults? Evidence from a longitudinal birth cohort study. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 6, 75-87.