A person’s socioeconomic status can affect many different aspects of his or her life. Most people already know that living in a different income bracket or class can mean different opportunities for things like education and jobs, but it could also influence a person’s satisfaction in his or her marriage. In some situations, it could even lead to a divorce.
Researchers at University of Texas joined up with researchers from an out-of-state university to examine marital happiness in the years following the start of a marriage, and the results were recently published in psychology journal. While people generally believe that marital satisfaction declines over the years as couples leave the newlywed phase behind, these researchers determined that satisfaction actually largely stays the same. This conclusion came from analyzing mostly middle-class, white couples, though.
To see if the trend held up in different socioeconomic levels, researchers followed 431 couples who were living in low-income brackets for a period of five years. From 2009 to 2014, researchers asked these couples to fill out annual questionnaires about marital satisfaction. They determined that couples who had high levels of marital satisfaction at the start of their marriages tended to still have high satisfaction rates several years down the road. Those with lower marital satisfaction at the start did not see their satisfaction rates rise like those in group of middle-class couples.
This research seems to indicate that less financial security is a possible contributing factor in some divorces. However, while there might be overarching trends in divorce, each couple in Texas faces their own unique marital challenges. Since divorce is a highly personal, emotional and legal process, those who are ending their marriages should be certain that they play close attention to details in order to secure the most favorable outcome possible.
