Marriage Equality Kentucky
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Surviving Emotional Infidelity in Relationships
It is estimated that 40 percent of current marriages will end in divorce in the US, especially if the trends displayed throughout 2009 and 2010 continue. This is one of the highest rates documented in the western world, and is surprising given the liberal nature of US union and the resources that exist in terms of guidance and counselling should issues arise. In order to understand the unusually high rate, it is pertinent to assess the most common factors cited in contemporary divorce.
While fidelity is an often discussed and debated reason for marital conflict and separation, this generally refers to the acts of physical infidelity. This is when one or both individuals in a marriage indulge in a physical relationship with a third party, and is suggested to account for over 30 percent of divorces in the US. However, a less known and potentially even more divisive example of this practice exists, and is referred to amongst experts as emotional infidelity.
What is Emotional Infidelity?
Emotional infidelity is where an individual within a relationship forms an emotional attachment to a third party, which is often entirely inappropriate or insensitive to their partners feelings. This concept is a growing issue within contemporary relationships, and its consequences can often be far more damaging than mere physical infidelity, especially in terms of reconciliation. The main reason for this is that its cultivation suggests a deeper relationship between the adulterer and their companion, and one that is far more consequential than a merely physical one.
Infidelity is the single biggest contributor towards divorce throughout the world, and stands as a serious issue across a diversity of cultures. In the US in particular, 2009 statistics revealed that 51 percent of divorce petitions cited infidelity as their primary cause, with 41 percent of these involving cases where both partners have committed the acts of adultery. As these figures show, once a relationship has endured such betrayal it is particularly difficult to recover from, and although not impossible such rehabilitation requires commitment, communication and a determination to discover the initial cause of such activity.
It is a much proffered notion that financial issues and reduced cash flow are the single biggest contributors towards separation and divorce. While it is true that these factors create pressure and tension within a relationship, statistics actually suggest that divorce rates are lowered during times of economic and financial crisis.
Though this is in part due to the fact that the presence of debt makes separation a far more complex and costly process, it is also because times of difficulty and financial hardship often draw couples closer together. Even where money and finance is a contributory factor to the decline of a relationship, it is generally cited as a secondary cause or a potential catalyst to other more pertinent divorce factors. The real unknown factor is exactly how much financial pressure and uncertainly can factor in other problems that generally render relationships moribund.
With an estimated four in ten US marriages now ending with divorce, the stability of marital harmony has never been more precarious. From these figures, it has also emerged that approximately 43% of marriages do not last beyond 15 years, and further examination of this statistic makes interesting reading. Of the marriages that do end in divorce with these 15 years, many suffer problems and disruptions to their relationships through the very first year of their existence.