Marital Stability Research Articles

Less money after divorce – how the 2008 alimony reform in Germany affected spouses’ labor supply, leisure and marital stability

The 2008 alimony reform in Germany considerably reduced post-marital and caregiver alimony. We analyze how individuals adapted to these changed rulings in terms of labor supply, the intra-household allocation of leisure, and marital stability. We use the German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP) and conduct a difference-in-difference analysis to investigate couples’ behavioral responses to the reform. In general, the results do not confirm theoretical expectations from labor supply and household bargaining models. In particular, we do not find evidence that women increase their labor supply as a result of the negative expected income effect. Neither do our results reveal that leisure is shifted from women to men as a response to the changed bargaining positions. We find some evidence that married couples are more likely to separate after the reform, but this effect vanishes once unobserved heterogeneity at the couple level is controlled for.

Parental divorce is not uniformly disruptive to children’s educational attainment

Children whose parents divorce tend to have worse educational outcomes than children whose parents stay married. However, not all children respond identically to their parents divorcing. We focus on how the impact of parental divorce on children's education varies by how likely or unlikely divorce was for those parents. We find a significant negative effect of parental divorce on educational attainment, particularly college attendance and completion, among children whose parents were unlikely to divorce. Families expecting marital stability, unprepared for disruption, may experience considerable adjustment difficulties when divorce occurs, leading to negative outcomes for children. By contrast, we find no effect of parental divorce among children whose parents were likely to divorce. Children of high-risk marriages, who face many social disadvantages over childhood irrespective of parental marital status, may anticipate or otherwise accommodate to the dissolution of their parents' marriage. Our results suggest that family disruption does not uniformly disrupt children's attainment.

Attitude and Propensity to Divorce in Iran: Structural and Ideational Determinants

ABSTRACTDivorce has been increasing worldwide, even in societies where religious impediments to it are strongest. In the Islamic Republic of Iran, divorce rates have risen rapidly since the mid-1990s. In this article, we investigate the attitude and propensity of young Iranians toward divorce and relate these attitudes and propensities to structural and ideational factors. The data are drawn from a survey of 720 married people ages 15 to 29 conducted in the city of Tehran in 2014. The results show that almost half of respondents approved of divorce as a solution for marital problems and one fifth of them have high propensity to divorce. Multivariate analyses indicate that approval of and high propensity toward divorce are significantly associated with ideational factors—namely individualism, secularism, and gender egalitarian views—and structural factors—including education, wife’s employment, and household economic insecurity—even after controlling for demographic variables. We discuss the implications of these findings for the understanding of marital stability in this rapidly changing context.

The efficacy of group counselling on perceived stress among infertile women undergoing in vitro fertilization treatment: An RCT.

BackgroundOne of the stressful and critical experiences that threat the individual, family, marital, and social stability is infertility.ObjectiveTo identify the effects of midwifery-led counselling programs on the perceived stress of the women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment.Materials and MethodsIn this randomized clinical trial, 50 infertile women who underwent in vitro fertilization treatment for the first time were enrolled in two groups. The intervention group received six sessions of group counselling by M.Sc. midwifery of counseling student and the control group received only the routine care. All participants filled Newton's standard questionnaire before and at the time of puncture, embryo transfer and the pregnancy test.ResultsThe mean SD scores for the perceived infertility stress before the intervention in the control and the intervention groups were 167.92 12.14 and 166.75 13.27, respectively. The mean of perceived stress after intervention at the time of oocyte puncture in the control and case group were 177.12 19.37 and 115.75 13.88, at the time of embryo transfer were 179.40 18.34 and 118.08 15.37, and at the time of pregnancy test was 183.76 14.97 and 120.50 16.24, respectively. The perceived stress of infertility after intervention were statistically significant in the two group (p 0.001).ConclusionGroup counselling is one of the effective methods for reducing the perceived stress in the women undergoing assisted reproductive treatment.

Komitmen Beragama Islam Memprediksi Stabilitas Pernikahan

Interest in religion and spirituality has increased dramatically recently both within culture in general and within psychology. Substantial literatures now describes connections between religion and mental health. The literature on marriage provided evidence that subjective and organizational religious participation was associated with enhanced family functioning and higher marital satisfaction (Wilson & Musick, 1996). In this study, we examine Islamic religious commitment on marital stability; with the underlying assumption that religious commitment may encourage couples to remain married. Islamic religious commitment in this study defined as the degree to which a person adheres to Islamic religious values, beliefs, and practices and uses them in daily living. Our findings indicated that religious commitment truly predict marital stability among newlywed couples.

The Impact of Women’s Employment on Marital Stability in Qatar Society

The State of Qatar has implemented several family policies in order to improve the wellbeing of Qatari families and ensure fair distribution of development benefits for both men and women. However, there is a linkage between female employment outside the home and instability in the marriages of Qatari families. This paper investigates the impact of female employment on marital stability, based on the results of primary data collected in Qatar, a questionnaire that consisted of several sections such as challenges in the workplace, supervisor, family and spouse relations, work motivation and performance. Of the 824 questionnaires that were returned, 807 were completed and valid for analysis. Regression analysis and an ANOVA test have been used to test the relationship between the variables. The results of the research have produced mixed findings about how wives’ employment increases marital instability and have yielded few significant differences on mean scores of discuss on work demands, insufficient time together, housework, financial matters, communication, relatives and rearing children. The results indicates that in general Qatar working women face several challenges in relation to their marital life as part of cultural and social constraints.

Relationship quality from pre- to postplacement in adoptive couples.

Although there is an extensive research literature examining the change in relationship quality of birth parents during the transition to parenthood, there is comparatively less work on how the relationship of adoptive parents fares from pre- to postplacement of the adopted child. In the current study, we examine the relationship quality (global satisfaction, feelings of love, feelings of ambivalence) of 127 adoptive parents across the transition from preplacement to approximately 6 months postplacement of the adopted child. Following the vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model of marital quality and stability, we examined various intrapersonal vulnerability factors, couple adaptive processes, and stressful factors primarily related to the adoption process as predictors of relationship quality across 3 waves (4 to 6 weeks prior to placement of the adopted child, 4 to 6 weeks postplacement of the adopted child in the home, and 5 to 6 months post-postplacement). Results indicated that, in general, relationship satisfaction and feelings of love decreased, and relationship ambivalence increased, from pre- to postplacement across the sample. Significant predictors of greater relationship satisfaction, regardless of time, included higher self-esteem, greater relationship maintenance, a better sexual relationship, and more partner support; love was significantly predicted by greater maintenance and sexual relationship, lower conflict, and a history of infertility; and higher conflict significantly predicted higher ambivalence. Our findings suggest that, in general, adaptive processes between couples are the most consistent predictors of marital quality over the transition to parenthood in adoptive parents. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Family of Origin Predictors of Marital Outcomes Among Coptic Orthodox Christian Egyptian-American Couples

Despite the importance of family within the Coptic community, the extant literature on Coptic family relationships is remarkably limited. The purpose of this study was to explore parental marital quality and family of origin (FOO) quality as predictors of marital satisfaction and marital stability among Coptic Orthodox Christian Egyptian-American couples. Self-report survey data from 255 married Coptic couples living in the United States were analyzed using an actor-partner interdependence model. Results indicated husband FOO quality predicted both marital satisfaction (β =.51, SE = .18, p = .005) and marital stability (β = .51, SE = .22, p = .022) among Coptic husbands but not among Coptic wives. Results further indicated wife parental marital quality, wife FOO quality, and husband parental marital quality were not predictive of marital satisfaction or marital stability among Coptic husbands or wives. Clinical implications, limitations, and recommendations for future research are discussed.

Importancia de la Diferenciación de Sí Mismo y el Ajuste Diádico en la Explicación de la Estabilidad Marital

El objetivo de esta investigación fue explicar la estabilidad marital a partir de la diferenciación del yo y el ajuste diádico. Se contó con 262 participantes colombianos, hombres y mujeres con matrimonio civil o religioso, a quienes se les informaron las consideraciones éticas del estudio. Se aplicaron los instrumentos de Diferenciación del Sí Mismo, la escala de Ajuste Diádico e Inestabilidad Marital. Se corrieron ANOVAS, análisis de correlación y dos modelos de análisis de regresión lineal múltiple. Los resultados indicaron que los hombres muestran mayor reactividad emocional que las mujeres y que las personas con matrimonio civil se fusionan más y presentan menor nivel de consenso que las de matrimonio religioso. De acuerdo con los resultados de las correlaciones, en cuanto al sexo y tipo de unión, se encontró que a mayor ajuste diádico, mayor estabilidad marital. La cohesión es la dimensión que mejor explica la estabilidad marital, seguida de la satisfacción diádica.

Divorced in a Flash: The Effect of the Administrative Divorce Option on Marital Stability in the Netherlands

Divorced in a Flash: The Effect of the Administrative Divorce Option on Marital Stability in the Netherlands

Family Members and Marital (In)Stability of Cross-Cultural Marriage in Jamal Mahjoub’s Travelling with Djinns

Family Members and Marital (In)Stability of Cross-Cultural Marriage in Jamal Mahjoub’s Travelling with Djinns

Parental Leave, Household Specialization and Children's Well-Being

Many countries offer new parents long periods of paid leave. Proponents argue that parental leave programs can reduce gender gaps in the labor market, support marital stability and promote children's well-being. In this paper, I show that lengthy leaves can instead work against several of these intended goals. Using a regression discontinuity design, I find that a 3-year expansion of paid leave in France increases household specialization by inducing mothers to exit the labor force and fathers to raise their work hours. The leave further discourages marriages among cohabiting couples and harms children's verbal development.

Early Labor Market Prospects and Family Formation

We use quasi-random variation in graduation years during the onset of a very deep national recession to study the relationship between early labor market conditions and young females' family formation outcomes. A policy-pilot affecting the length of upper-secondary vocational tracks allows us to compare females who graduated into the onset of the Swedish financial crisis of the 1990s to those graduating during the final phase of the preceding economic boom while netting out the main effect of the policy. We find pronounced, but short-lived, negative labor market effects from early exposure to the recession for low-grade students in particular. In contrast, we document very long-lasting effects on family formation outcomes, again concentrated among low-grade students. Young women who graduated into the recession because of the policy-pilot formed their first stable partnerships earlier and had their first children earlier. Their partners had lower grades, which we show to be a strong predictor of divorce, and worse labor market performance. Divorces were more prevalent and the ensuing increase in single motherhood was long-lasting. These negative effects on marital stability generated persistent increases in the use of welfare benefits despite the short-lived impact on labor market outcomes. The results suggest that young women respond to early labor market prospects by changing the quality threshold for entering into family formation, a process which affects the frequency of welfare-dependent single mothers during more than a decade thereafter.

FINANCIAL STRAIN, FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT PRACTICES, MARITAL SATISFACTION AND MARITAL STABILITY AMONG NEWLYWEDS

Money does matter especially in the family life and it affects marital satisfaction and marital stability. The purposes of this study are to examine the relationship between financial strain and financial management practices, and marital satisfaction and marital stability. 278 married individuals were involved in this study who was within 5 years of marriage. The In-Charge Financial Distress/Financial Well-Being (IFDFW) Scale, Financial Management Behavior Scale (FMBS), Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale (KMSS) and Marital Instability Index (MII) were used for data collection. Data were analyzed using Pearson correlation. The findings showed that there was significant relationship among financial strain, financial management practices, marital satisfaction, marital stability, financial management practices and marital satisfaction. Therefore, it can be concluded that financial does play an important role in satisfaction and stability of marriage.
 
 Keywords: financial strain, financial management practices, marital satisfaction, marital stability.

중년기 기혼남녀의 가족생활 스트레스, 가족가치관이 결혼안정성에 미치는 영향

중년기 기혼남녀의 가족생활 스트레스, 가족가치관이 결혼안정성에 미치는 영향

Divorced in a Flash: The Effect of the Administrative Divorce Option on Marital Stability in the Netherlands

Administrative divorce is an optional divorce procedure which allows couples to bypass the court system and dissolve their marriages in a streamlined, uncontested process. The lack of court involvement renders the administrative divorce faster and less expensive than the conventional divorce. In this paper, I investigate whether the administrative divorce option affected the stability of marriages in the Netherlands. Leveraging the ban of the procedure in 2009, I show that the divorce risks were 11.6% higher under the legal regime which allowed for administrative divorce. This effect is causal, and it exhibits considerable heterogeneity, being stronger among dual-earner couples, native couples, and couples living in rural regions.

Explorations of Forgiveness in Ghanaian Marriages

This study examined marital forgiveness among 40 married individuals from southern Ghana. Analysis revealed various conceptualizations of forgiveness: (1) removal of negative emotions; (2) relationship restoration; (3) forgetting; (4) revenge, punishment, or retaliation avoidance; (5) refraining from making future references to the offense; and (6) minimizing the offense. Three reasons for granting forgiveness were observed: marital stability; marital harmony; and personal well-being. The process of granting forgiveness was partly influenced by Ghanaian culture and differed for men and women. Participants emphasized bodily expressions and gestures (e.g., “kneeling”) in the forgiveness process, and more women than men demanded pacification when they were wronged. The findings have implications for understanding and improving marital relationships of individuals with African ancestry.

Religious service attendance, divorce, and remarriage among U.S. nurses in mid and late life.

Prior research has suggested religious participation can promote marital satisfaction and stability. However, current literature has mainly focused on early life divorce, and used cross-sectional data, leaving open the question of the directionality of effects. We evaluated the prospective associations between service attendance and marital stability in mid and late life considering either 1) divorce or separation; or 2) remarriage, as separate outcomes. Data were drawn from the Nurses’ Health Study, a large prospective cohort study that consisted of US female nurses in their 50s at study enrollment, with repeated measures of service attendance and marital status over 14 years of follow-up from 1996–2010. During follow up, among 66,444 initially married nurses who were mainly Christians, frequent service attendance was associated with 50% lower risk of divorce (95% CI: 32%, 63%), and 52% lower risk of either divorce or separation (95%CI: 37%, 63%). Among initially divorced or separated women, frequent service attendance was not associated with subsequent likelihood of remarriage; however, among widowed women, women who attended services frequently had 49% increased likelihood of remarriage (95% CI: 13%, 97%) compared to those women who did not. The study provides evidence that in this cohort of US nurses, frequent service attendance is associated with lower risk of becoming divorced in mid- and late- life, and increased likelihood of remarriage among widowed nurses, but not among divorced or separated nurses.

Negative Social and Economic Effects of the Marriage Penalty Tax on Women and Society

For decades the marriage penalty tax (MPT) has been debated, reduced, increased, and muddled in the US tax system. Research shows that the MPT negatively affects marital stability. This study examines the impact on the MPT of the new tax law, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act of 2017. While the MPT was greatly reduced by the 2017 Act, notably regarding tax rates, the MPT, as connected to the earned income tax credit, continues to have a major detrimental impact on low to moderate income couples, discouraging marriage and thereby having particularly negative effects on them and their children.

Sources of Consensus and Variegation in Cultural Affective Meanings

Societal cultures are grounded in characteristic and broadly shared meanings for particular identity labels, which encode social knowledge about the esteem, respect, and treatment that various types of people deserve. Although our cultural sentiments are predominantly shared with others, they also reflect our unique individual experiences. The present research examines the proposition that variegation in cultural affective meanings can be explained, in part, by sociodemographic characteristics, social position, and formative experiences in family and romantic relationships. Respondents from two universities of distinct racial and socioeconomic composition were found to have substantial consensus in their sentiments for social groups but to differ in these sentiments to a degree commonly found in cross-cultural comparisons. Where identity meanings diverge, race is an important predictor of differences in cultural sentiments, along with parents’ education and marital status, and disruption versus stability in parental and romantic attachments.