Attractors and Barriers to Divorce: A Retrospective Study in Three European Countries

A total of 711 divorced individuals from Germany, Italy and Switzerland provided retrospective reports on their perception of attractors and barriers to divorcing. This study combines the evaluation of macro-level variables (represented by three different countries) and microlevel variables (psychological variables) to better understand attractors and barriers to divorce. Among attractors of divorce, alienation was found to be most relevant, while alternatives were less significant for the decision to divorce in all three countries. Among barriers, the presence of children (for all three countries) and financial strain (for German and Swiss women) was found to be of primary importance. In general among macro-level variables, economic assets seemed to be of greatest importance