Rising Divorce Rates

Are people taking marriage less seriously as divorce rates rise?

As divorce rates in the United States rise it seems that two groups of people are formed: one group deciding marriage isn’t for them and the other group being even more determined to make marriage work.

A lot of factors can influence a person’s view on marriage. If a person has grown up with parents who never divorced and had a good marriage that might make them more determined to make their own marriage work. Those people probably have an overall more positive view on marriage. Most likely they don’t see the high divorce rate as relevant to them because they have seen that marriage can work. On the other hand, some people have negative models of marriage. Growing up with parents who are in a bad marriage can leave a life-long impression. Children of a bad marriage probably would retain that negative impression and possibly be more affected by divorce rates. However, they could turn that negative into a positive and use it as motivation to have a good marriage.

A person’s personal experience with marriage affects their views on marriage itself, therefore, determining whether or not the divorce rate would mean anything to them. Because divorce rates have been on the rise, I believe there is sometimes a negative spin cast on marriage. This could be seen as people taking marriage less seriously. Really, I think people still do take it seriously. A person either seriously believes in a marriage or they seriously believe that marriage simply doesn’t work.

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