An Exploratory Study of the Role Financial Satisfaction Has on the Thought of Subsequent Divorce

Abstract

This study is designed to test whether financial satisfaction can be used to distinguish between those who had considered getting a divorce during the past 3 years—an indicator of marital distress—from those who had not. Using a sample of U.S. midwestern individuals ( n = 361), a classification and regression tree methodology was used to determine that individuals with a high level of financial satisfaction were significantly less likely to have thought about divorce during the past 3 years. In addition to financial satisfaction, other important factors that can be used to predict the likelihood of thinking about a divorce include di ference in partners' ages, the age of a spouse, self‐esteem, and employment characteristics of the married couple.