My hypothesis is that the chief cause of divorce-is marrage.

Now, if I could only get a 2 or 3 million $ govt. grant, I'm sure I could prove it!

post hoc ergo propter hoc ... a common error in logic that even an entry level editor should be able to catch

100% accurate predictor:

The more elaborate the proposal, the quicker the divorce.

There's just something about the maturity level of someone who hires a skywriter, plans a flashmob, or thinks home plate at a MLB stadium during the 7th inning stretch is a good place to propose that doesn't make for a long marriage. And the girls who say "yes" to these clowns have maturity issues of their own.

Best predictor of divorce?

How much of a b*tch her mother is.

Who comes up with this 'Crap' ?
I believe people test drive vehicles before they purchase them.
So does that mean they throw them into the trash after they buy them ?
I have found the best predictor for divorce is marriage.

We just got conned into commenting on the "most popular" story...from March 2014.

YAWN

All studies tend to favor whomever sponsors/puts on the study.

One thing that has ALWAYS annoyed me about this study is not taking into account that people who don't "believe in" moving in together before marriage also tend to not "believe in" divorce. So, this can result in unhappy marriages but no paperwork to show it...

So, they proved that cohabitation DOES cause more divorce .... But, instead they claimed it is age that causes divorce ....

Sadly, what could have been a good report was used to provide more propaganda ....

Wayne
Luvsiesous.com

They said that cohabitation whether married or not starting under 23 years of age causes most divorce. But, as far as I am concerned...the best way to end any relationship...single OR MARRIED...is to live together.

Correlation vs. causation...

Just living together is simply a "get out of jail free" card!

This will kill the religious conservatives

How?

They ignore facts anyway.

"In the 1950s, husband and wives stepped into well-defined gender rolls." No, it was well-defined gender biscuits.

relevant comic: http://explosm.net/comics/2...

Curse you. Making me hungry for biscuits. :)

Agree, article is oversimplification and drivel. Whether you live together first or not is completely irrelevant and misses the point. We are married 43 years, got married at age 20 after junior year of college, with our future completely unsettled. We are still in love today and very happy. I feel sorry for todays young adults getting advice to approach marriage as if its a business investment-a good marriage isn't based on logic, it's based on intangibles love and faith in each other. If you wait until the time is "right"-got your degrees, nice bank account, housing, etc, you have your eyes on the wrong targets.
And in the debate about benefits of getting married or not, now that I have grandchildren I understand and agree with those that say the absolute best thing in life is enjoying time with your grandchildren. For a generation that needs instant gratification I know this falls on deaf ears but as my wife and I approach 65 we agree that the time with the grandkids is what it is all abou

This is an oversimplification "the longer couples wait to start living together, the better their chances for long-term relationship success." The longer they wait, the less time they have together. So, if you wait till you are 50 or 60, you are not only going to have to keep your marriage together for 40 or 60 years like those who get married earlier. Length of marriage is important and the professor is not controlling for this variable.

Nevertheless, what makes marriage work is commitment, not the nebulous term "love". Feelings of love are not reliable - they come and go. That is why couples take vows that they will be faithful in spite of their feelings de jour. These vows include things like "in sickness and health, for richer or poorer, for better or worse, till death do us part" True love isn't a feeling. True love is a verb that is measured by our actions, especially sacrificial actions, such as honoring our commitments when it would be easier not to.

Couldn't agree more, its a verb. You do not fall out of love; you choose to no longer do nice things for your mate. Look into the mirror for there is the enemy! We project our own failings onto others as if they are the reason for our unhappiness. Do kind things for your spouse and hold hands as you walk through this journey called life. Great post thanks.

I go to the store to get bread! ;-{)

I dunno dude. I would guess the yahoos in red states like AL, MS, OK, KS, IN, SC take in way more junk reading than the much more highly educated people in MA, NY, CA, WA, NJ, WI, MD. Certainly, the blue states have a much high college education rate and a much lower teen pregnancy rate.

Yeah, and most of that important business you're talking about doesn't matter to most people. They couldn't care less about it. They aren't political and are just disgusted with politics and politicians in general. Most will get married though and an increasing number will live with a person first. They'll live with these decisions long after the "big issues" that get you all hot and bothered are old news nobody even remembers anymore.

Tool, and I am not a Liberal.

indifferent. why so touchy feely?

Unbelievable they did not see that age was an important control variable. This shows the poor status of research in the social sciences. Kudos to the researchers that finally got this.

Original study probably packed with self serving religious types to have not checked one more variable

The opinions in this article express the views of damn fools. Bahaha!

Maybe couples who decide they can live together without committing to each other don't take commitment seriously after marriage either. It's all in the genuine relationship between the two people - not the piece of paper or absence thereof.

That is why you steer clear of the marriage so you don't have to take it too seriously, you can have fun and there is no risk of losing your life's work......

Only the most simplistic would really think co-habitation, per se, outside any other context, would be a key variable in divorce. But social studies of this kind can never control for all variables, or get to root causes.
The obvious main reason divorce is more common now IMO is simply because it's more socially acceptable. People don't settle down in 'committed' relationships (married or other) younger than they used to (older in fact). Perhaps various social stresses on man-woman couples are greater than they were (less job stability for working class men, upper middle class people don't divorce nearly as much; women's equality, etc.). But it's hard to prove that's a major factor. Whereas IMO it's just common sense observation of human nature that most people follow the herd (though few admit it). And most people are very concerned what others think of them (though again few admit it). So I think it stands to reason the dominant reason for the rise of divorce is relationship difficulties which always existed, but it just became more acceptable to divorce as a solution. It also became more acceptable (or even expected of 'responsible' people) to cohabit before committing to marriage. But there's no reason to think one of those symptoms of changed attitudes is the cause of the other.
And If so, noodling around with studying stuff like cohabitation, as a variable in itself in divorce, is a waste of time.

The best Divorce Predictor is if your wife catches you in bed with her sister or best friend and they will both testify against you in court.

Just toss a coin to see if you’ll divorce or not. Letting immoral politicians who cheat on their spouses make decisions about marriage is as dumb as having a community organizer as President!

Wow! ma and pa \ families buying rental properties and flipping houses again.

Another liberal study to tell us the obvious.

Like we really needed this info to tell us that Stanley Ann Dunham would have split up with Obama's real father Frank Marshall Davis?

The best predictor of divorce is when your wife tells you to leave the house and if you come back she will call the cops.

Awsome! Perfect Description of how ridiculous Marriage has become. The puritanical view of life, the univewrse and everything has changed PEOPLE

Or if she says she's stepping out for cigarettes, and she doesn’t smoke.

Or if she comes home from drinks with her girl friends and her panties don’t pass the stick test.

Or she has an unusual interest in her boss, coworker, cousin's husband, guy she met in a bar, your brother-in-law, the 15 year old kid next door, et al!

Or gives you a pan to cook in and you end up living with your friend Felix.

My buddy got chased down old school with a rolling pin....LOL.....poor dude was running for his life.

This exemplifies omitted variable bias. Kind of like how the libs claim that the economy was "great after world war II even though top tax rates were around 90%" (not to mention those tax rates applied to millions of dollars of income)

91% was only until the war was paid. Back then we paid for our wars.

Not that many people actually paid the top tax rates and that is also true today. Some now say that corporate taxes here are the 'highest in the world.' Yet, after so many deductions, most corporations don't pay much.

What an incredibly off topic comment. How every story on this site can somehow and immediately turn to politics is amazing.

It is boring, monotonous, and shows how angry people must be. Not with politics, but their own miserable existence.

As well as complete lack of anything constructive to add to any conversation. The intellect of the readership here I don't know. But the commenters are the least educated, most boring, predictable, off base , malcontents I have ever seen.

Bears are brown. Ready, set , go. I bet you can show in 5 minutes how that is bad and the fault of liberals.