Marriages Fail Typically, Studies Involving Essay

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The study examined three developmental models of marital stress and divorce -- the enduring dynamics model, the disillusionment model, and the emergent distress model. According to the enduring dynamics model, a couple's courtship experiences accurately predict what their marriage will be like (Huston 304). In this model, marriages show distress from the beginning and typically end quickly in divorce. Huston explains that spouses are less in love and more antagonistic toward each other than happily married couples. Additionally, they are usually quite young when they marry and come from unhappy family environments (317).

The disillusionment model suggests that couples enter a marriage happily, but subsequently the "mundane concerns prevail and the romance begins to fade, particularly when the spouses discover that their mate is not as affectionate and wonderful as they were during courtship" (Huston 305). Under this model, according to Huston, it is the movement away from the romantic ideal, rather than the rise of antagonism early in marriage that results in divorce (320). Huston explains that couples show sharp declines in overt affection along with modest increases in ambivalence. They may also come to view each other as less responsive (320). Initially they may try to recapture the excitement of courtship, but if these efforts fail, they may begin to focus on their partner's shortcomings (Huston 320). Eventually, if one of the partners decides he or she wants out of the marriage, they may become antagonistic.

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However, sometimes the disillusioned partners remain married until someone better comes along (Huston 320).

Whereas the disillusionment model focuses on the loss of what was good early in the relationship, the emergent distress model focuses on the emergence of cracks in marital solidarity. According to the emergent distress model, couples start out as highly affectionate and in love, but early in the marriage previously overlooked problems emerge and produce friction (Huston 305). Huston explains that "if the spouses lack the interpersonal skills necessary to work out their differences, they begin to behave more antagonistically, start to see each other as difficult, and if their grievance cumulate, they may seek a divorce" (305).

Both studies support the idea that whether divorce happens early or later in the marriage, marital problems usually begin shortly after the marriage begins. Huston finds that relationships are either bad from the beginning and quickly dissipate, or that the partners' view of each other becomes less favorable over the first 2 years of marriage (323). Amato & Rogers explain that while divorce may occur later, marriages that are eventually disrupted report an elevated number of problems as early as 9-12 years prior to the divorce.

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