Women are more likely than men to initiate divorce. At the same time, no such difference was noticed in extramarital relationships: both offer to part with the same frequency.
Who wants to end a relationship more often, men or women? Stanford University sociologist Michael Rosenfeld analyzed data from the 2009-2015 National American Survey, How Couples Form and Remain. He took information on 2262 adults aged 19 to 94 who were in heterosexual relationships in 2009. By 2015, 317 of them had separated or divorced their partner. It turned out that divorces in 69% of cases were initiated by women, in 31% of cases — by men. However, extramarital unions almost equally often broke up at the initiative of men and women — the difference was statistically insignificant, cohabitation also did not play a role.
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Sociologists argue that women are more likely to initiate divorces because they are more sensitive to any relationship problems. Michael Rosenfeld believes that if this were the case, they would break off marital and extramarital relationships equally often. “Based on data from various sources, it can be concluded that since the 1940s, it was predominantly women who filed for divorce in the United States. I, like many of my colleagues, assumed that more frequent breakups at the initiative of women are a feature of any heterosexual relationship, but it seems that this feature is manifested only in a marriage situation, ”says the sociologist. According to his data, women in marriage, on average, were less satisfied with the quality of relationships than men. There were no such differences in extramarital relationships.
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The scientist believes that these results are consistent with the statements of feminists that some women see marriage as a form of oppression or simply unpleasant. “In my opinion, the institution of marriage is somewhat behind what is happening in society today. When marrying, wives still take their husbands’ last names, sometimes under duress. Husbands still rely on their wives to do most of the housework and childcare. On the other hand, partners in extramarital relationships are not bound by such historically established expectations and stereotypes, which makes them more flexible and adapted to modern conditions, including modern women’s ideas about gender equality,” concludes Michael Rosenfeld.
For more information see M. Rosenfeld «The gender of breakup in heterosexual couples», presentation at the 110th Annual Conference of the American Sociological Association, August 2015.