Cheating and Increasing Divorce Rates in the United States

While most people enter marriage with the expectation of spending the rest of their lives in bliss, the sad reality is that this is rarely the case, and a significant majority of couples divorce. Since 1919, when it became the country with the highest number of divorces in the world, the United States of America has seen high divorce rates when compared to other countries (Harkonen, 27). Divorce rates in the country have recently ranged between 40 and 50%. This places it among the top country with high divorce rates, although it is far behind a country like Belgium which has a divorce rate of about 71%. Out of an estimated 6.8 million marriage unions that take place in the United States in a year, an estimated 3.6 million divorce are observed during the same period (National Centre for Health Statistics, 6) Infidelity or cheating is considered as one of the main reasons leading to divorce. While it is almost impossible to come up with exact figures on infidelity in the country, an estimated 30 to 60% of married individuals are believed to have engaged in the vice during some stage in their married lives.

Statistics and Facts on Infidelity

Although estimates suggest that 22% of married men and 14% of married women have cheated while in their marriage, there is a reason to believe that the number is probably higher, due to the discrete nature of this vice. Prior research has also shown that about 2 to 3% of all children born in the United States are born out of infidelity relationships, and raised by persons who are unknowingly not their biological fathers. Younger individuals below the age of 30 who find themselves in marriage are more prone to cheating. This trend can be attributed to the fact that most young people are used to having multiple sexual relationships before marriage, and are therefore more likely to cheat on their partner when a good opportunity arises, such as being in long distant relationship. Modern technology is also a fuelling factor behind the increase in infidelity rates, where an estimated 10% of all infidelity affairs were initiated online and out of this, and estimated 40% went on to become real life relationships (Balestrino et al, 8) While most men will cheat primarily for sex, women may cheat for a need to feel some emotional connection.

Reasons for Divorce in the United States

Apart from cheating a number of reasons are cited as the motivation behind divorce. Money issues are a major contributor towards divorce. Disagreements over how one partner spends money, or even cases where one partner feel threatened by the other earning considerably more money have been cited as reasons for divorce. Most marriages have also gone down the drain as a result of lack of proper communication between the partners. Poor communication ultimately leads to resentment and frustration forcing the couple to separate (Anderberg, 31). Individuals also rush into marriage without putting much thought on the struggles that might be faced in the union. As such these individuals have some expectations on how the marriage should be, and should the union not live up to these lofty expectations; most of them find themselves separating. Lack of intimacy is another factor that leads to divorce. When one partner loses intimacy connection, this leads to destruction of the union, especially if the reasons behind the loss of intimacy is not properly discussed, it eventually makes the relationship cold and a divorce becomes imminent. Physical and emotional abuse is also a major reason for divorce filing. While most of the abusers blame the abuse on deep unsettled emotional issues, it is important to understand that no person should tolerate any type of violence against them (Shein, 41) and in such instances a divorce is the better option.

Cheating and Increased Divorce Rates

While many factors are considered to be contributors to divorce, this research project will focus on cheating and how important it is as a factor in influencing divorce rates. The magnitude of cheating is reinforced by the fact that in over one third of all American marriages, either one of the partner or both admit to have cheated at some point. Once a partner cheats, statistics show that the possibility of them cheating again stands at over 350%. A number of reasons may lead to infidelity. People may cheat as a result of sexual incompatibility or dissatisfaction. Others cheat as a result of people feeling emotional dissatisfaction with their partners, mostly as a result of being unappreciated or neglected. Others cheat simply because, people can naturally grow apart. This is instanced by both emotional and physical distance between the two partners. It is not uncommon for people to fall out of love. Lastly some individuals might cheat in bid to spite their spouse; by using infidelity as a means of revenge against some injustice they perceive to have been committed against them by their partners. The research factor will seek out to find whether cheating is the main reason behind increased divorce rates, and whether a decrease in infidelity would lead to a lower divorce rate. The paper hypothesis that cheating does not lead to increased divorce rates and a reduction in cheating will not necessarily lead to a lower divorce rate.

Research Questions

Is cheating the main reason behind increased divorce rates in the United States?

Can a reduction in cheating lead to lower divorce rates in the United States?

Null Hypothesis

Cheating does not lead to increased divorce rates in the United States

A reduction in cheating will not lead to lower divorce rates in the United States

Method

The method used will be a qualitative analysis approach. Statistics on divorce and infidelity will be collected from different sources in the internet, from websites such as CDC and Pew research Centre. From these sources a comparison will be made to compare the incidences of infidelity with the incidences of divorce. From this the frequency of different reasons behind divorce will be tabulated, and infidelity will be compared with divorce to test if there is a positive correlation between the two.

Intended Audience

The intended audience of the research project will be anybody interested in getting information on the state of divorce and infidelity in the United States. So as to ensure that the finding and results are understandable to all, the paper will use a simple language without a lot of technical jargon.

Outline of the Research Project

Abstract

Introduction and literature review

Research questions and hypothesis

Methods

Results

Discussion of Results

Conclusion

Works Cited

Anderberg, D. Marriage, divorce and reciprocity-based cooperation. Scandinavian Journal of economics 109, 25-47, 2007.

Balestrino Alessandro, Ciardi Cinzia & Mammini Cinzia. CEsifo Conference Centre, On the causes and consequences of Divorce. Munich, CEsifo, 23-24 May, 2008. Pdf.

Harkonen, Juho. Divorce: Trends, patterns, causes, consequences. Stockholm University: Stockholm University Linnaeus Centre on Social Policy and Family Dynamics in Europe, SPaDE, 2013. Pdf.

National Centre for Health Statistics. Change in the reporting of marriage and divorce statistics. Centre for Disease Control, 2017. Internet Source.

Shein, Lori. Inequality: opposing viewpoints in social problems. San Diego, Calif: Greenhaven press, 1998.