-the belief that we have lost the extended family
-opposites attract
-people marry because they love each other
-having children increases marital satisfaction
-happily married people don't have conflict
-half of all marriages end in divorce
Out of these myths there are on or two that i will go into detail to describe.
The first myth that i find interesting is the belief that half of all marriages end in divorce. Many people believe this myth because they continually hear divorce rate statistics and believe that these statistics are derived from the amount of divorces that occur out of the total married population. The reality is that the divorce rate is actually found by dividing the number of divorces that happen in one year by the number of marriages that took place in that same year. For example, if someone were to take the 2011 divorce rate statistic at face value they would find that according to that statistic 49% of all marriages end in divorce when the reality is that this number only says that of the total number of marriages that took place, there were about half as many divorces in that same year. i guess the divorce rate is as representative of divorce as Twinkies representing healthy eating habits.
The first myth that i find interesting is the belief that half of all marriages end in divorce. Many people believe this myth because they continually hear divorce rate statistics and believe that these statistics are derived from the amount of divorces that occur out of the total married population. The reality is that the divorce rate is actually found by dividing the number of divorces that happen in one year by the number of marriages that took place in that same year. For example, if someone were to take the 2011 divorce rate statistic at face value they would find that according to that statistic 49% of all marriages end in divorce when the reality is that this number only says that of the total number of marriages that took place, there were about half as many divorces in that same year. i guess the divorce rate is as representative of divorce as Twinkies representing healthy eating habits.
The second myth that really interested me is the myth that having children increases marital satisfaction. I have heard this myth multiple times throughout my life but have always been skeptical because i know that my 2 brothers, 3 sisters and I raised a lot of hell for my parents and most likely did not bring only happiness to their lives at points.Ii realize that by using only my family life as an example is a poor indicator of this belief being a myth but research has also shown that marital satisfaction tends to decrease after having children and then tends to increase after children have left the home. This being said, I have to admit i am an advocate of having children and i myself would like to raise children with my wife. I believe that if a family has strong values about family time, activities, and other things that help bring the family together, as well as having an open line of communication; then children can bring not only much happiness but can provide many opportunities to help one grow intellectually, mentally, and spiritually.
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