Reasons for Divorce

Marital dissolution is a complex process, experienced in diverse ways. However, most divorce research is based on the reports of divorced individuals. A dyadic perspective is needed to capture the entire range of reasons for divorce. Thc purpose of this study was to clarify what reasons for divorce were made by former spouses, and to investigate the extent of agreement and disagreemcnt between their reports of the divorce process. Former husbands reported proportionally more circumstantial reasons and dyadic conditions, and fewer individual reasons and dyadic behaviors than did their former wives. The lack of association between couple agreement on reasons and demographic variables suggested that the reasons embedded in personal accounts were more important to understanding divorce, and thus merit further investigation.