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Study: Hesitation Before Marriage Could Predict Divorce
According to a study recently published in the Journal of Family Psychology, there may be a way to indicate whether your marriage is going to end in divorce even before it begins. Unfortunately it doesn’t predict if that will be a contested divorce in Arizona.
A doctoral student who led the study said that doubts before marriage may be common, but they aren’t always “benign.” Even among couples who stayed together, researchers determined that those who experienced doubts before getting married end up being “significantly less satisfied” in their marriages than those who didn’t experience doubts.
The study involved 232 couples in the Los Angeles area. Researchers interviewed the couples during the first few months of their marriages, and then checked in again every six months for a total of four years.
During the first interview, researchers privately asked each spouse if she or he had felt “uncertain or hesitant” before getting married. A total of 47 percent of husbands responded “yes” to this question, compared to 38 percent of wives.
Interestingly, while men were more likely to experience hesitation, hesitation experienced by women appeared to more accurately predict the failure of the marriage.
A total of 19 percent of wives who reported feeling hesitant or uncertain before tying the knot were divorced within four years. Just 8 percent of wives who did not report having “cold feet” were divorced within the same time period. Comparably, 14 percent of husbands who had cold feet were divorced within four years, while 9 percent who didn’t have cold feet experienced the same.
While the researchers concluded that having cold feet doesn’t necessarily mean a marriage will fail, they do suggest that people address feelings of hesitation or uncertainty before going through with marriage.
Are you facing a Contested Divorce in Arizona?
If you have questions about protecting your rights during a contested divorce, please call us at 602-870-9700 (Phoenix) or 480-985-4000 (Mesa) or contact us to request a consultation today.
Source: Fox News, “Bride’s ‘cold feet’ may be an indication of divorce,” Sept. 17, 2012
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