A Comparison of Divorce Risk Models, in China and the United States

Divorce has become more common in China. However, studies of Chinese marriage and family life have lagged because relevant data are sparse. Using a divorce risk model, this study compares China and the United States. Chinese data came from a 2007-2008 Shanghai study containing 1,070 married or cohabiting respondents. The U.S. data came from the 2000 Survey of Marriage and Family Life containing 2,100 married individuals. In both countries, marital quality (happiness) was higher when couples frequently shared activities, reported few arguments, had not experienced marital violence, thought it would be difficult to replace their current spouses, and grew up with happily married parents. Moreover, in both countries, divorce risk (thinking about divorce) was negatively associated with marital quality, marital duration, believing that marriage is for life, reporting few quarrels, and the absence of marital violence. Differences between samples also emerged, which may reflect unique cultural aspects of Chinese and American society.