“I Had Not Seen Star Wars” and Other Motives for Divorce in Denmark

Abstract

A total of 2,371 Danish residents participating in the Cooperation After Divorce randomized controlled trial study indicated the motives for their divorce. The most frequently given motives were lack of love/intimacy, communication problems, lack of sympathy/respect/trust, and growing apart. The least reported motives were violence, addiction, accident or illness, and personality. The results support global trends regarding an increased importance of emotional and psychological aspects of relationships. A factor analysis seeking to identify clusters in the motives did not yield statistically or theoretically strong results. This may indicate that experiences with and motives for divorce are heterogeneous and multifactorial.

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge that the Egmont Foundation supported the development of the digital platform Cooperation After Divorce, and the Danish State Administration helped during the data collection process.

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest.

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, (JMS), upon reasonable request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Carlsberg Foundation “Distinguished Associate Professor Fellowship” (last author) under Grant Number CF16-0094.