Variations in Divorce Rates by Community Size: A Test of the Social Integration Explanation

This study tests the hypothesis that level of social integration may account for the correlation between community size and marital dissolution. Using data from the U.S. General Social Surveys we find a strong correlation between the residential mobility rate and a measure of marital dissolution from which the effects of family background religious background socioeconomic background and years of exposure to the divorce risk have been removed.... (EXCERPT)