Heterogamie en echtscheiding. Gebrek aan overeenkomst in voorkeuren of gebrek aan sociale steun?

Samenvatting

Do marriages in which partners do not resemble each other with respect to age, educational level, occupational status, religion, ethnic background, and social origin have larger probabilities of divorce than marriages in which partners have similar characteristics? And if so, how can this relationship be explained? This paper employs new data on 551 married and 1795 ever divorced persons with detailed information on heterogamy to answer these questions. Event history models show that all forms of heterogamy lead to higher divorce rates and that heterogamy with regard to age, educational attainment and religion has the largest impact. Furthermore, the paper explores possible mechanisms that may explain the effects of heterogamy. Both the lack of similarity in taste and preferences, and the lack of social support affect the risk of divorce. The effect of lack of similarity is about twice as strong as the effect of lack of social support. The interpretation of the effects of heterogamy on divorce is partial; the effects of educational and religious heterogamy are explained to the largest extent. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]; Copyright of Mens en Maatschappij is the property of Amsterdam University Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)