Conflicts Might Predict Divorce

In these times of quick marriages and even quicker divorces, one is left wondering how to anticipate the trouble brewing in the cup. To make things a little easier for married couples, a study conducted at the University of Michigan states that the pattern of conflict between the spouses can predict divorce. Kira Birditt, a researcher at the University, is the pioneer author to study about the behavior of the marital conflict and its impact on the divorce. The study is published in the Journal of Marriage and Family (October 2010). This research might help many couples to understand the marital discord and work towards them.

The Study
This is one of the longest and largest projects to study the pattern of conflict in marriage in which the data was collected from the Early Years of Marriage Study. This was supported by the funding from the National Institute of Aging and National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. Around 373 couples were observed and interviewed starting in the first year of their marriage. They were questioned four times for a 16 year long period. The included a significant proportion of the African-American couples to gauze the racial differences in the conflict strategies and the corresponding effect. The researcher from the University of Michigan also observed the individual behavior as well as the behavior pattern between the spouses might affect the chances of divorce.

    Change in behavior over time
    Gender and racial differences in the behavior pattern and the subsequent outcomes
The Findings
The following findings came to light in the study:


    29% husbands and 21% wives reported that they did not have any conflicts in the first year of their marriage (in 1986)
    46% couples had divorced their spouses by the end of 16th year (in 2002)
    Husbands were observed to use less destructive behavior and more constructive ones than the wives.
    Over the period, wives were more likely to less destructive strategies or withdraw themselves.
    The chances of African American couples withdrawing from conflicts were more than their white counterparts.

The Conclusion
Birditt and the fellow researchers came to the conclusion that:

    The problems that lead to wives to use destructive behaviors or withdraw from conflicts might be resolved over a period.
    Women are more concerned about their relationships and the quality of relationships than the men.
    Over a period of time, women realize that withdrawing from marital problems or using destructive tools might not work in the long run.
    A toxic pattern was also observed by Kira Birditt where one of the partners uses constructive ways to solve marital discord like discussion, listening to the other’s point of view, trying to find out the spouse’s feelings etc. On the other hand the other partner withdraws himself/herself from the situation. This pattern might be extremely damaging to the marriage.

Researchers feel that the study might give an insight into the complex conflict dynamics between married couples.

Tags: pioneer towards supported development