Marriages used to be held together by many different bonds, including economic dependency, pressure from families, societal taboos, strong religious ties, and strict divorce laws. These have all weakened in modern times. Today, marriages are based almost entirely on love, an emotion. People's emotions are notoriously changeable. When love is lost, there often seems little reason to continue to hold the marriage together. Looked at slightly differently, the standard of a good marriage today is personal fulfillment -- a historically high standard. If one feels that is not being achieved, there are few disincentives for, and relatively little stigma against, moving on. Moreover, with the high divorce risk (nearly 50 percent of first marriages can be expected to end in divorce), there are many post-divorce opportunities for remarriage or re-partnering.
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