The Effect of Parental Marital Quality on Young Adults' Attitudes toward Divorce

Abstract

Using the theory of reasoned action and social learning theory, this article examines the influence of young adults' assessments of parents' marital quality on attitudes toward divorce while controlling for the effect of parents' views. Findings indicate that young adults who believe that their parents should end their marriage are more likely to have positive views of divorce and are less likely to share parents' attitudes. Furthermore, control variables have different effects on sons' and daughters' attitudes. Specifically, daughters who feel their parents should divorce, who do not report feeling close to their fathers, and whose parents espouse tolerant views of divorce are more likely to have positive attitudes toward divorce. Sons who feel their parents should divorce, whose parents report tolerant views of divorce, and who are not married are more likely to espouse positive attitudes toward divorce. The implications for how perceptions of parents' marital outcomes may influence offspring's marital quality and likelihood of divorce are discussed.