Perceived Causes of Marriage Breakdown and Conditions of Life AILSA BURNS Macquarie University A large number of structural and attitudinal variables have been regularly found to be asso- ciated with marital dissolution.Fourteen such variables were located and related to the causes of breakdown as perceived by 335 divorced and separated men and women.Five perceived causes were associated with perceptions of the marriage as beginning to break down at particular time periods,but not with duration of marriage.Sex of respondent, SES,respondent's and spouse's religion,age at marriage,marital status (divorced or sepa- rated),parity of marriage,parental approval,stability of parents'and in-laws'marriages, length of premarital acquaintance,marriage duration and number of children,and stan- dard of living since separation all were associated with one or more of the reasons given by respondents for the marriage breakdown.An exploratory factor analysis gave a 7-factor solution supporting the notion that different types of marriage breakdown can be de- scribed. Why do marriages break down?One can seek to by his sample of divorcees:"These complaints answer this question from the participants'point were not the causes of the divorce-after all every of view or by reference to certain structural and still married wife could very likely make one or demographic variables-such as age of mar- more of these charges against her husband." riage-which regularly have been found to be as- Nevertheless,in seeking to understand marital sociated with likelihood of divorce.A rather well- breakdown,it would be wrong to disregard the established list of such variables now exists.In ad- testimony of those in the best position to know dition,the rapid increase in divorce among what went wrong in their own case.It may be,for younger cohorts indicates that youth itself is now instance,that certain structural conditions work a predictor of marital dissolution (Cherlin,1981). their effects through promoting certain types of Researchers have been inclined to regard these grievance.Goode's work suggests that this may be structural correlates as more worthy of explora- the case.For example,he found an association tion than the reasons given by couples for separat- between type of complaint and duration of mar- ing.This skepticism is perhaps understandable, riage,with a wife married for a short duration given the notoriously frequent disagreement be- likely to complain of her husband's personality tween husband and wife as to the cause of the and a wife married for 15 or more years to com- trouble and the changes that occur over time in plain of his drinking,adultery,and "helling their perceptions of the experience (Kitson and around.'Other studies make it clear that the Raschke,1981).Goode (1956:131)raises another divergence so commonly noted between the ac- point when he comments on the reasons advanced counts of husbands and wives is not random. Fulton (1979)speaks of "his',and "her"divorce and found wives in a large sample more critical of This project was funded by Macquarie University the ex-partners and of the marriages,more likely Research Grant.Thanks to Irene Lovelock (data collec- to report arguments and violence,and less likely tion)and David Cairns (data analysis). to feel that the marriages had been happy for much of the time.Levinger (1966)found wives School of Behavioural Sciences,Macquarie University,more likely to complain of cruelty,drinking, North Ryde,New South Wales 2113,Australia. physical and verbal abuse,neglect and lack of August 1984 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 551 This content downloaded from 211.80.94.134 on Mon,19 Dec 2016 05:27:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/termsPerceived Causes of Marriage Breakdown and Conditions of Life AILSA BURNS Macquarie University A large number of structural and attitudinal variables have been regularly found to be asso- ciated with marital dissolution. Fourteen such variables were located and related to the causes of breakdown as perceived by 335 divorced and separated men and women. Five perceived causes were associated with perceptions of the marriage as beginning to break down at particular time periods, but not with duration of marriage. Sex of respondent, SES, respondent's and spouse's religion, age at marriage, marital status (divorced or sepa- rated), parity of marriage, parental approval, stability of parents' and in-laws' marriages, length of premarital acquaintance, marriage duration and number of children, and stan- dard of living since separation all were associated with one or more of the reasons given by respondents for the marriage breakdown. An exploratory factor analysis gave a 7-factor solution supporting the notion that different types of marriage breakdown can be de- scribed. Why do marriages break down? One can seek to answer this question from the participants' point of view or by reference to certain structural and demographic variables-such as age of mar- riage-which regularly have been found to be as- sociated with likelihood of divorce. A rather well- established list of such variables now exists. In ad- dition, the rapid increase in divorce among younger cohorts indicates that youth itself is now a predictor of marital dissolution (Cherlin, 1981). Researchers have been inclined to regard these structural correlates as more worthy of explora- tion than the reasons given by couples for separat- ing. This skepticism is perhaps understandable, given the notoriously frequent disagreement be- tween husband and wife as to the cause of the trouble and the changes that occur over time in their perceptions of the experience (Kitson and Raschke, 1981). Goode (1956:131) raises another point when he comments on the reasons advanced This project was funded by Macquarie University Research Grant. Thanks to Irene Lovelock (data collec- tion) and David Cairns (data analysis). School of Behavioural Sciences, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales 2113, Australia. by his sample of divorcees: "These complaints were not the causes of the divorce-after all every still married wife could very likely make one or more of these charges against her husband." Nevertheless, in seeking to understand marital breakdown, it would be wrong to disregard the testimony of those in the best position to know what went wrong in their own case. It may be, for instance, that certain structural conditions work their effects through promoting certain types of grievance. Goode's work suggests that this may be the case. For example, he found an association between type of complaint and duration of mar- riage, with a wife married for a short duration likely to complain of her husband's personality and a wife married for 15 or more years to com- plain of his drinking, adultery, and "helling around." Other studies make it clear that the divergence so commonly noted between the ac- counts of husbands and wives is not random. Fulton (1979) speaks of "his" and "her" divorce and found wives in a large sample more critical of the ex-partners and of the marriages, more likely to report arguments and violence, and less likely to feel that the marriages had been happy for much of the time. Levinger (1966) found wives more likely to complain of cruelty, drinking, physical and verbal abuse, neglect and lack of August 1984 JOURNAL OF MARRIAGE AND THE FAMILY 551 This content downloaded from 211.80.94.134 on Mon, 19 Dec 2016 05:27:55 UTC All use subject to http://about.jstor.org/terms