Risk factors that cause divorce

At present, in many countries, including some regions of the Soviet Union, the instability of marriage has become a significant social problem. To such regions also belong the republics of the Soviet Baltic. For example, in the Estonian SSR for several years the number of divorces amounts to approximately 40% of the number of marriages concluded in the same year.

Macroscopically, the causes of this phenomenon are known. This is a scientific and technological revolution and the associated emancipation of women, the economic independence of almost all adults, and intensive population migration. It is well known that at the present time most of the previous economic, religious and other factors that ensure the stability of marriage and family have disappeared. However, in the microsociological plan, the mechanism of family development( both in the positive direction and its gradual destruction) has been little studied. The purpose of this article is to find out some of the circumstances associated with the disintegration of the family.

One of the main objectives of the family research group of the Tartu State University is to study the conditions that guarantee the normal functioning of the family, as well as to find out the circumstances that cause its destruction. In the Estonian SSR, three sample studies were conducted, representative of the Republic.

In 1972, married in 7 offices of the registry office of different regions and cities of Estonia. Each questionnaire included 150 questions( 350 features) about socio-demographic

characteristics, assessments of the parental home, the nature of their and their future spouse, value orientation, role expectations, etc. As a result, 1150 correctly executed questionnaires( 575 pairs) were obtainedthen processed on a computer. Published results of this study are the empirical basis of this article.

In 1975, in the same registry office and the corresponding people's courts were asked to divorce. The questionnaires for them contained basically the same questions as those on the questionnaire for marriages, plus the economic and social characteristics of the former family, mutual assessments and self-assessments of the dynamics of behavior and changes in the identity of the spouses, motivation for divorce( altogether 250 questions, or 700 signs).The volume of the processed material is 950 questionnaires, of which 62% are filled by women and 38% by men.150 former couples were interviewed. Note that the average life expectancy was 8.4 years( median 6.1 years).One third of all those who divorced lived separately for 1-2 years. A detailed study of their questionnaires makes it possible to verify the validity of the responses received. Published results of this study form the second empirical source of this article.

Comparison of the results of these surveys allows you to find out the circumstances that affect the decay of marriage. It should be noted that there is not one or more of the dominant causes of divorce. There are a number of factors that increase the likelihood of the destruction of marriage, the so-called risk factors for divorce. These factors can be divided into three groups.

1. Risk factors of the first type are associated with persons entering into marriage. This includes such characteristics as their origin, the influence of the parental home, some socio-demographic features, psychological qualities, physical and mental health, etc. Knowledge of all these factors makes it possible to predict the probability of successful marriage for each person separately.

The importance of these factors for family life has been repeatedly emphasized by many Soviet and foreign researchers.

2. Risk factors of the second type are related to the primary compatibility of the tested pair, the conditions of acquaintance, the characteristics of the pre-marital period, the motivation for marriage. Note that risk factors of the second type are not independent of risk factors of the first type: they can enhance their effect, and in some cases even compensate them. Knowledge of risk factors of the second type allows to predict the success of a marriage( and to some extent even affect it) for each particular couple at the time of their marriage.

3. Risk factors of the third type arise during the conjugal life of a married couple. This includes problems related to the economic basis and housing conditions, as well as the discrepancy between the role expectations and their implementation. In general, the risk factors of the third type are determined by secondary incompatibility, inadequate behavior of spouses, family conflicts, sexual disharmony, alcoholism. Risk factors of the third type depend to some extent on the risk factors of the first and second types, but they are far from being determined by them, but are largely determined by the specific living conditions of the family in question.

Knowledge of risk factors of the third type allows not only to predict the success of life together at each stage of life of each particular couple, but also to some extent to orient this life in a socially desirable direction( through family consultations).

Risk factors of the first type. Among the risk factors of the first type, that is, the circumstances related to the suitability and readiness for the family life of individuals, the most significant is the origin of the incomplete family. According to our data, 67% of married persons up to the age of 16 were raised in a full family, and among the bred persons, the corresponding percentage is 57. The reason for this is probably insufficient preparedness for family life and a low grade of marriage for inmates of an incomplete family. The influence of this factor is indicated by many researchers.

A similar and also significant risk factor is the cold or hostile atmosphere in the parent home. In this situation, according to our data, 3% of married and 7% of those who divorced grew.

The influence of the place of birth is interesting. In the Estonian SSR, as in the rest of the world, there is a higher divorce rate in towns than in rural areas. However, among those who divorced, there were more people born in the countryside and less born in larger cities than among those who marry( of those who were divorced, 48% were born in the village and 34% in big cities, and 45% and 38%, respectively).Consequently, migration from a village to a city, which causes a weakening of social control over a young person, is an important risk factor.

A well-known risk factor is the improper age of marriage. Couples in which at least one partner at the time of marriage was significantly younger or older than the optimal age, are relatively less stable. Our material testifies to the especially significant effect of too late marriage: divorcees who lived together for no more than 3 years marry an average of 2.4 years later, those who divorced who lived together for 3-10 years - an average of 0, 6 years later, and those who divorced who lived together for more than 10 years - an average of 1.6 years later than the average. And it is interesting that 30% of those who were divorcing considered the improper age of marriage to be a significant cause of the destruction of marriage, but only 5% believed that they were too old, and 25% believed that they had married too young.

All other socio-demographic characteristics, such as the formation of spouses and their parents, social status, the number of family members, etc., have roughly the same distribution among marrying and divorcing people, so there is no reason to consider them as risk factors for divorce.

The characters of both marrying and divorcing were studied in some detail. To do this, the questionnaires contained a block of personality measurement, created by Cattell, which consists of 32 signs. Each feature was matched by a pair of personality traits( for example, bold - cowardly), connected by a 5-point scale. Married people evaluated themselves and their future spouse;the divorcee gave appropriate estimates for the moment of marriage( retrospectively) and for the moment under consideration. Validity of all evaluations was verified by factor analysis.

Married people rated themselves and their future spouse mostly positively, besides the estimates given to the spouses, somewhat higher than self-esteem. Quite similar, but somewhat lower were the retrospective estimates of the divorcees. According to self-assessments, those divorced at the time of marriage were more selfish, less brave, sociable and demanding than the average marrying. Retrospective assessments of the spouse, given by the divorce, are substantially lower than the estimates of the future spouse given by the marrying. Yet it is interesting to note that the retrospective estimates of the spouse, given by the divorcee, are generally positive or neutral, only each of the spouses considered the other already nervous at the beginning of the marriage. In addition, women indicated that their husbands were already inclined to instability, impracticality and frivolity.

Thus, there is no reason to believe that those who were divorced already at the time of marriage were in some ways "bad temper", although some traits in their characters( selfishness, nervousness, instability) can actually complicate life together and be risk factors for divorce.

Risk factors of the second type. If the risk factors of the first type are associated with an individual, then the risk factors of the second type are inherent in the pair and are related to its primary compatibility, circumstances and conditions for acquaintance and marriage.

Primary( and also secondary) compatibility of a married couple to some extent depends on the compatibility of different socio-demographic characteristics of the spouses. Obviously, the heterogeneity of such indicators may be a risk factor for divorce.

In the course of our study, it was found that the discrepancy between the ages of the spouses is indeed an important risk factor, and the effect of this factor has been manifested for quite some time. Thus, the correlation coefficient of the ages between the marriages was 0.71, and for the divorcees who lived together to 3 years, from 3 to 10 years and more than 10 years, the corresponding coefficient was 0.73, 0.46 and 0.41.

We did not find any significant differences between marrying and divorcing people when we were exploring the places of acquaintance: only( contrary to expectations) the widow's residence was on average more frequent( 20 and 11% respectively), and the cafe or restaurant - less often( 21 and 26, respectively%) than those who enter into marriage.

The length of the dating period is significantly associated with the stability of marriage: for too short a period of dating, future spouses do not have the opportunity to learn enough each other, adapt to each other, develop common ideas about family life. Therefore, too short a period of acquaintance is an important risk factor. Too long period of dating is associated with a decrease in emotionality in marriage.

According to our data, the average period of acquaintance for the divorcees lasted 1 year. Among them, 40% noted a too short period of acquaintance;such people knew each other before marriage on average six months( 12% - even less than 3 months).But 7% of the divorcees indicated a too long period of acquaintance( an average of 3 years).

The rest of the divorcees considered the normal duration of the dating period to be on average 1.5 years, as well as on average and getting married.

The degree of mutual accommodation depends not only on the duration of the premarital period, but also on the tightness of contacts during this period. Note that among the divorced were 28% of people who met before marriage only once a week or less;among those who entered into marriage, there were 20%.The tightness of contacts in the pre-marital period significantly affects the knowledge of the character of the future spouse. When asked if they knew the annoying traits of their future spouse's character at the time of marriage, the interviewees gave the following answers( dominant variant): those who met less than once a week did not know;met once a week - knew in part;met more often - knew.

Very important for the preparation for marriage is the general nature of relations in the premarital period;for normal relations in marriage, warm and cordial mutual relations of the future spouses in the premarital period are assumed;this was the case with 97% of those marrying, but the percentage of those who were divorcing was only 80. Hence, about 5% of those who are divorced, even primary compatibility was inadequate. A similar picture emerged in the relations of dominance-subordination: if 72% of couples in the premarital period always took into account each other's wishes, then only 42% of divorced couples were married. Note that these signs are closely correlated: with very warm mutual relations they often try to fulfill the partner's desires, and with cool relations, they are more likely to own ones.

The package of premarital relations includes sexual relations. It is well known that in recent times attitudes towards premarital sexual relations have become more tolerant, and there have been practically no differences in the issue between those who enter into marriage and those who divorce. For men, premarital sexual relations were considered acceptable by 70% of respondents, for women - 60%.Similarly, in both arrays, the percentage of people with premarital sexual experience was almost the same: about 80% of men and 75% of women.

Thus, neither premarital sexual relations, nor the rejection of them are in today's conditions a risk factor for divorce. In this regard, it should be noted that the expected child, who is the cause of the so-called "forced marriage", according to our data, is not a risk factor for divorce, but rather on the contrary: if 41% of the married women considered the expected child an important motive for marriage,only 26% of those who were divorced from such a motive indicated.

The analysis of the motivation of marriage speaks about the cooler relations of those who are divorced during the time of marriage. If the marryers indicated love, friendship and care as important motives for marriage, respectively, in 95, 93 and 87% of cases, then the motivators met 60, 51 and 43% of the cases. It should be noted that the bred almost all the motives( both economic and ethical, including sympathy or given a promise) were met much less often than those who get married. It should be noted that the divorce marriages were less approved by the parents of the bride and groom: if approximately 82% of all marriages are approved by parents, then this percentage was only 37 for the divorcee. To determine the cause of this phenomenon, additional research is needed: are these marriages in generalless motivated or here the subjectivity of evaluations is manifested.

Risk factors of the third type arise during the conjugal life of a married couple. They are associated with a secondary incompatibility, based on differences in value orientations, inconsistency of ideas about the conjugal roles of reality. Some general information on the effect of these factors can be obtained by comparing the marital values ​​indicated by the marrying people with the absence of these values ​​as the motives for divorce declared by the divorcees( Table 1), where the "ranking" of these characteristics is given in order of decreasing their significance. Note that the motives for divorce are quite closely related to marital values: the coefficient of rank correlation between motives and values ​​is equal to 0.82 for men and 0.62 for women.

Let us now consider separately the circumstances associated with the risk factors of the third type.

A certain basis of matrimonial compatibility is the economic basis on which a family is created. It should be noted that in very unfavorable conditions( for example, when a young family does not even have a separate room and they must live separately), the family as a microgroup can not develop, and such conditions are a very serious risk factor. The existence of such a risk factor is confirmed by our research: only 38% of those who divorced had their own apartment after marriage, 6% lived

. Marriage values ​​and divorce motives related to a lack of relevant values ​​(in order of decreasing importance)

in the corner of the common room and approximately10% of the cases the partners lived separately. The proportion of those who lived together with their parents at the beginning of the marriage was significantly higher among the divorcees than among those entering into marriage( correspondingly, 49 and 32%).More than half( 57%) of those who divorced had a less than 6 m2 living space after marriage, per 1 member of the family. Among those who entered into marriage such people were only 31%.

As housing conditions improve during a joint life( by the end of marriage, about 60% of those who live divorce live in a separate apartment), the motive "poor housing conditions" is relatively rare( 15% of those who divorce).However, we must take into account that the poor relations with the parents of the spouse, indicated by 10% of those who are divorcing, are very often associated with housing conditions: the young family is forced to live with their parents. As for the material support provided to the young couple by their parents, there is no significant difference: 28% of cases of marriage support were received, and divorce was provided in 24% of cases.

A very important risk factor is alcohol consumption. In about half of all divorce applications submitted by women, alcohol abuse is either the main or accompanying motive of divorce. It is clear that the assessments here are very subjective: - if the divorcing men themselves indicated that 20% of them drink alcohol frequently and 45% - moderately, the divorcing women found that among their husbands 64% drink alcoholic beverages often and 20% - moderately. Although the increase in alcohol consumption during an unsuccessful marriage is very significant( for example, at the beginning of a marriage, according to retrospective self-assessments, 8% of men often drank, according to women's estimates of 18%), nevertheless one must assume that divorceers already consumed alcohol at the time of marriagemore than the suitors on average( on self-esteem, only 2% of them drank often).Obviously, the habit of drinking alcohol is associated with the corresponding tradition in the parental home;according to divorcing women, 40% of the fathers of their spouses drank often, according to the same men, this situation occurred only in 13% of cases. It should be noted that women were more critical about their father: in their opinion, he drank often in 26% of cases.

We note that, according to our data, women are very sensitive to the habit of drinking alcohol from their husbands: 68% of women who divorce have claimed that the husband's drinking is hampered or hampered( although some of their husbands, according to the same women, were drinkingmoderately).This sensitivity is the result of unsuccessful family life: before marriage, young women comparatively low estimate the sobriety of the spouse as marital value( 13th place), while among the reasons for divorce, alcohol abuse is in the first place( see Table 1).

A very serious risk factor for divorce is unfair distribution of domestic work: 35% of women and 17% of men considered it an important motive for divorce, more than half of those who divorced noted that the burden of domestic work was too heavy for them. Although the estimates given by both spouses to the actual distribution of household responsibilities are somewhat contradictory, it follows that in women, homework takes twice as long as men's.

The distribution of household duties is very closely related to spending free time. During matrimony, the amount of free time for spouses, especially for women, is significantly reduced. But also the available part of free time spouses, as a rule, spend separately. One of the reasons for this is the difference of interests and hobbies.

Unity of interests and hobbies is such a marriage value, the value of which at the beginning of the marriage is underestimated. After an unsuccessful life together, this discrepancy is already a rather significant risk factor for divorce.

Interests and passions were thoroughly studied by us( with the help of self-assessments and mutual evaluations) in both contingents, and divorces gave retrospective estimates related to the initial period of marriage.

The results show that at the beginning of marriage all people evaluate their interests rather close to the interests of their spouse( the average correlation coefficient is about 0.35), while at the same time, according to self-assessments, this coefficient is only 0.10.The most common hobbies for young couples are such as dancing, cinema, theater, light music, fondness for fashion, visiting home evenings. Quite a lot of time and takes and reading fiction. Only a part of those entering into marriage intensively engage in sports, gardening or scientific work.

It should be noted that the retrospective estimates of the divorced did not overestimate the general interests of the spouses and were more consistent in this respect( correlation coefficient - 0.40).Estimates characterizing the end of marriage indicate that former spouses spend their free time mostly separately, even if they have some common interests. Only a few, relatively secondary in frequency representation, remained common, for example sports, serious music, and scientific work.

During the marriage, the structure of spending free time changes significantly. The time spent in theater and cinema, at a concert and rest evenings, devoted to sports or reading fiction, is significantly reduced. The time spent at home and in the garden increases, as well as time devoted to public duties. Moreover, the assessments and self-assessments of the spouses agree rather well( the correlation coefficient is 0.25), but, as a rule, both sides assert that their former spouses spend more time in a restaurant or at dances.

A comparatively important risk factor is the sexual disharmony of the spouses. Note that the importance of sexual harmony as a marriage value at the beginning of the marriage is underestimated. If at the beginning of marriage 66% of men and 55% of women were very satisfied and only 5% of men and 7% of women are not satisfied with marital sexual relations, by the end of unhappy marriage the percentage of very satisfied fell to 17 and 18 respectively in men and women, and the percentagedissatisfied, respectively, rose to 43 and 51. The reason for the sexual dissatisfaction of men was the excessive restraint of women;women - increased sexual activity of men. It is possible that this phenomenon is associated with negative emotions at the first sexual experience( in 44% of women).Our data show that sexual disharmony is closely associated with conflicts in general( 90% of respondents).

Very frequent motives for divorce are treason and jealousy. According to our data, approximately 50% of all divorcing men and women changed, and accused their spouse of treason of approximately 60%.The reasons for the betrayal of women called new love( 12%) and unreasonable jealousy( 8%);men - sexual dissatisfaction( 18%), new love and unreasonable jealousy( 13%).

Table 1 shows that the most important marital values ​​are associated with the personality of the spouse and the mutual relations of the spouses. Measurement of such subjective characteristics is very difficult, but some information about them can be obtained from the above repeated self-and mutual evaluations.

When comparing the assessments and self-assessments characterizing the divorce at the end of the marriage, with the corresponding retrospective estimates, two regularities are clearly discernible.

1. Both mutual evaluations and self-assessments at the end of marriage are much lower than retrospective ones.

2. Mutual estimates are significantly lower than self-assessments.

The first fact, obviously, speaks about objective changes in the character traits of people associated with an unhappy marriage;it turned out that people became more nervous, pessimistic, they lost honesty, courage and cheerfulness.

The last fact indicates a decrease in mutual respect, a greater subjectivity of evaluations. It should be noted that at the time of divorce, negative character traits are already dominant in the assessments. The diligent accuse their former spouses of stubbornness, tactlessness, excessive demands, dishonesty, distrust, frivolity, imbalance, nervousness, coldness, impracticality, pettiness;women consider their husbands and unscrupulous, but they acknowledge that the spouses have become more self-confident. Estimates of sociability turned out to be practically unchanged, as well as assessments of such basic character traits as temperament, energy, etc. This latter fact allows us to consider mutual evaluations more or less justified and conclude that in reality during an unhappy marriage the characters of the spousesespecially in the behavioral plan) significantly change in the negative direction.

Thus, we can conclude that there are many different reasons that cause instability in the marriage. These reasons are related to the origin and education of spouses, their value orientations, the notion of roles in the family, the willingness to marry life and specific living conditions and circumstances.

The strength of marriage is tested daily in a system of diverse interpersonal relationships at work, at home and in a team of friends and relatives, in solving current problems and difficulties.