Siblings Linked to Lower Divorce Rate

 Posted on September 14, 2013 in Divorce

There are many non-obvious or secondary factors that contribute to divorce. Several studies have linked divorce to all sorts of personality traits, pre-marriage behavior, and family situations. One such study, conducted by the University of Minnesota and reported upon by the Huffington Post, even went as far as to suggest that women who carry designer handbags are less likely to experience their husband cheating. The study's co-researcher Yajin Wang explained it this way to the Huffington Post: "a woman who is wearing luxury items and designer brands is perceived to have a more devoted partner and as a result other women are less likely to flirt with him." Wang went on to say that when a woman feels threatened by another women, she's likely to want to flash luxury items as a means of establishing her dominance. Not all studies are quite this dependent on external factors, however.

One such report, presented earlier this summer at a meeting of the American Sociological Association, found that divorce is inexplicably linked to having siblings. "Each sibling that a person has—up to seven—reduces the likelihood of divorce by 2 percent," according to US News and World Report. The assumption is that if a person grows up with people with whom he or she must be more compromising, he or she is more likely to be able to compromise and carry on personal relationships than someone who did not forge those behaviors early on in life. "But we found that the real story appears to be how family dynamics change incrementally with the addition of each sibling," the study's co-author and assistant professor of psychology Donna Bobbitt-Zeher told US News and World Report.

Yet the study didn't prove a cause-and-effect relationship, the US News and World Report is quick to point out. It more proved a link between the number of siblings a person has and his or her tendency to divorce. It's not as if having siblings completely eradicates the risk of marital unhappiness.

If you or someone you know is considering divorce, the most important first step is to seek the counsel of a qualified family law attorney. Don't go through it alone. Contact a dedicated member of our team today.