It’s an age-old joke that the in-laws lead to divorce, but it turns out that there’s some truth it. A recent study reported on in CNN Health and, more recently, on NBC Nightly News, cites that divorce is tied to the relationship that a person has with his or her in-laws. According to NBC, “men who are close with their in-law are less likely to get divorced, but women are close with their in-laws are actually more likely to get divorced.”
According to CNN, the study was conducted by Terri Orbuch, a psychologist and research professor at the University of Michigan’s Institute for Social Research. It was originally published in the journal Family Relations, and followed 373 couples who were married in 1986. The couples were surveyed for 26 years, and Orbuch was able to deduce that “when a man reported having a close relationship with his wife’s parents, the couple’s risk of divorce decreased by 20 percent. Yet women who said they had a close relationship with their husbands’ parents saw their risk of divorce rise by 20 percent.”
According to the CNN reporter, the data makes sense. Being a son-in-law is easier, as men tend to identify as a provider first and a husband or father second. “If women are close to their in-laws, especially early in marriage, this interferes with or prevents them from forming a unified and strong bond with their husband,” Orbuch told CNN. Some advice for keeping relationships healthy? According to CNN “know your limits, maintain a careful distance, keep things cordial, and put your relationship first.”
Separating from your in-laws, your second family, is only one of the complicated processes to wade through during divorce. Don’t go through it alone. If you or someone you know is considering divorce, contact a dedicated Illinois divorce attorney today.
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