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When and Why Do People Think There Should Be a Divorce?

Author

Listed:
  • Heike Diefenbach

    (Chapel Cottage, King Street, Odiham, Hants, RG29 1NH, UK, heike.diefenbach@btinternet.com)

  • Karl-Dieter Opp

    (Sulkyweg 22, 22159 Hamburg, Germany, opp@sozio.uni-leipzig.de)

Abstract

This article focuses on the conditions under which people think that spouses should or should not divorce. In order to explain acceptance of a more or less permissive divorce norm we draw on a theory of norm emergence, arguing that negative externalities of divorces and marriages and integration in divorce-supporting social networks are important determinants for the emergence of norms. We extend this theory by introducing interdependencies between externalities and by arguing that experiencing and suffering from a divorce are related to externalities. Results of a factorial survey indicate that a permissive divorce norm is subscribed to if the quality of the marriage is bad, if both partners have extramarital relationships, and if there are no children. The parents' divorce or having suffered from the parents' divorce does not have the expected direct effects on accepting a permissive divorce norm.

Suggested Citation

  • Heike Diefenbach & Karl-Dieter Opp, 2007. "When and Why Do People Think There Should Be a Divorce?," Rationality and Society, , vol. 19(4), pages 485-517, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:ratsoc:v:19:y:2007:i:4:p:485-517
    DOI: 10.1177/1043463107083738
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    2. Raymond Boudon, 1996. "The `Cognitivist Model'," Rationality and Society, , vol. 8(2), pages 123-150, May.
    3. Eggertsson,Thrainn, 1990. "Economic Behavior and Institutions," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9780521348911.
    4. Yuanreng Hu & Noreen Goldman, 1990. "Mortality Differentials by Marital Status: An International Comparison," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 27(2), pages 233-250, May.
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    Cited by:

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    2. Judith Treas & Jonathan Lui & Zoya Gubernskaya, 2014. "Attitudes on marriage and new relationships," Demographic Research, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany, vol. 30(54), pages 1495-1526.

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