The Effects of Parental Separation on Young Adults Attitudes towards Marriage.

Statement of the Problem

This study intended to know how parental separation affects young adults’ attitudes towards marriage.

Specifically, this aimed to answer the following questions:

1. What are the effects of parental separation on young adults’ view of marriage?
2. How does parental separation affect the level of commitment of young adults?
3. Is parental separation a factor in influencing the perception of divorce in young adults?

Review of Related Literature

In a sample of 684 youth in a large southeastern state, Garneau, Adler-Baeder, & McGill (2014) examined
the association between parents' marital histories and adolescents' marriage attitudes and expectations
to marry. Overall, those participants with stably married parents reported positive attitudes toward
marriage and high expectations to marry in the future while those whose parents had divorced and
neither had remarried reported less positive attitudes toward marriage and lower expectations to marry
in the future.

Children who grow up in households where their parents are married view marriage more positively than
those who grew up with divorced, separated, or non-married cohabitating parents. Children of divorced
or cohabitating parents are more likely to cohabitate with their respective partners in the future rather
than commit to marriage (Cunningham & Thornton, 2005).

According to Abalos (2017), the Philippines is the only country in the world, aside from the Vatican, where
divorce is not legal and despite the lack of divorce law in the country and the high costs of obtaining an
annulment, recent data shows that a growing number of Filipinos dissolve their marital unions, either
legally or informally.

While most Filipinos still hold conservative views about marriage and divorce, a growing segment of the
population is becoming more receptive to the idea of divorce (Abalos, 2017).

The study that was conducted by Kapinus used a twelve year longitudinal study sample of married
individuals surveyed in 1980, 1983, 1988 and 1992. She examined the assessments of young adults on
divorce based on their parents’ marital quality while also looking at the effect of parental views. She
proposed that young adults who believe their parents have low levels of marital quality will be less likely
approve of divorce and young adults that have parents that had tolerant attitudes towards divorce were
more likely to hold positive views of divorce (Kapinus, 2005, as cited in Branch-Harris & Cox, 2015).

In determining the level of commitment of young adults with separated parents, one factor found to be
associated with childhood parental separation and it’s the individual’s partnership outcomes in
adulthood. It has been suggested that parental separation may act as a life experience that influences the
individual’s future partnership behaviors (Amato, 2001, 2010; Christensen & Brooks, 2001, as cited in
Fergusson, Mcleod, & Horwood, 2013). Previous research has shown that those reared in childhood
environments subject to parental separation have more partner changes in adulthood (Amato, 1996;
Kiernan & Cherlin, 1999; Mustonen, Huurre, Kiviruusu & Haukkala, 2011, as cited in Fergusson, et.al.
2013).

Theoretical Framework

One theory that is applicable to help understand how parental separation may influence young adult’s
attitude on marriage is the social learning theory by Albert Bandura.

Social learning theory (Bandura, 1977) provides one perspective on how parents’ relationships influence
children’s own romantic relationship experiences in adulthood, for it suggests that children learn social
behavior, in part, from the modeling they observe in their caregivers’ social interactions and
relationships. Thus, having a positive role model for what healthy romantic relationships look like may
be important to developing positive relationships in early adulthood.

Participants

The participants will be senior high school and college students studying around Metro Manila who have
separated parents and living with one of their parents (father or mother) or guardian. The researchers
will recruit a sample of 15-25 students from each section of senior high school and 10-20 students from
the college department. The participants’ ages will range from 18-25 years old.

Research Locale

Since the study will be using an online and in-person survey, the research will be conducted around
Metro Manila.

Data Instrument

Attitudes toward Marriage Scale

Attitudes toward Marriage Scale (Kinnard & Gerrard, 1986) is a questionnaire consisting of fourteen items
that assess the positive and negative attitudes towards marriage. The questions are rated on a 5-point
Likert scale ranging from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5). Six questions assess negative
attitudes about divorce and eight questions assess positive attitudes (Moats 2004, as cited in Branch-
Harris, Cox, 2015).

Attitudes toward Divorce Scale

The Attitudes towards Marriage Scale (Kinnard & Gerrard, 1986) and Attitudes towards Divorce Scale
(Kinnard & Gerrard 1986) are very similar but they do have differences. The statements are based on a 5-
point Likert Scale varying from Strongly Disagree (1) to Strongly Agree (5). It consists of twelve questions
assessing the positive and negative attitudes towards divorce (Branch-Harris, Cox, 2015).

15 item Commitment Scale

15 item Commitment Scale is developed by Rusbult (1998). This is used to measure participants’
commitment level within their existing or future relationships, defined as intent to persist in the
relationship, including long-term orientation toward the involvement as well as feelings of psychological
attachment. Participants indicate their level of agreement on a 9-point Likert scale (0= do not agree at
all; 4= agree somewhat; 8= agree completely).

Data Procedure

Each student will be asked to complete a demographic survey which asks questions such as age, gender,
nationality and religion. They will also be asked of their age when their parents got separated. The age
categories will be ages 0-5, 6-10 and 11-18 years.

Surveys will be administered online through Google Forms and also in-person if needed. Each survey will
take approximately 10-15 minutes to complete, in a total of 45 minutes to an hour of completing the
three surveys. Once students have finished the surveys that will be the end of their participation. There
will not be any follow up information or call backs to do additional questionnaires. We will receive the
results immediately and will be able to enter the data. Participants will also be informed that their
information will be kept confidential and their information will only be used for the purpose of this
study.

References

Abalos, J. (2017). Divorce and separation in the Philippines: Trends and correlates. Demographic

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317215981_Divorce_and_separation_in_the_Philippines_Tr
ends_and_correlates

Abalos, J. (2017). The rise of divorce, separation, and cohabitation in the Philippines.

http://www.niussp.org/article/the-rise-of-divorce-separation-and-cohabitation-in-the-philippines/

Fergusson, D.M., et.al. (2013). Parental separation/divorce in childhood and partnership outcomes at age
30

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/257837738_Parental_separationdivorce_in_childhood_and_
partnership_outcomes_at_age_30

Branch-Harris., Cox, A. (2015). The Effects of Parental Divorce on Young Adults Attitudes towards Divorce

https://opensiuc.lib.siu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&articl
e=1388&context=uhp_theses

Garneau, C., et.al. (2014). Parent's Marital Histories and Youths' Marriage Expectations and Attitudes

https://www.ncfr.org/ncfr-2014/session/factors-influencing-attitudes-expectations-and-outcomes-
couple-relationships
Cunningham, M., Thornton, A. (2005). The Influence of Union Transitions on White Adults' Attitudes
toward Cohabitation https://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/abs/4291

Prosser J.L., Rosén L.A. (2018) Marital Attitude Scale/The Marital Scales. In: Lebow J., Chambers A.,
Breunlin D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Couple and Family Therapy. Springer, Cham
Attitudes Toward Marriage Scale
Please respond to each of the following statements by circling the appropriate

rating on each scale

1 – Not at all 2 – A little 3 – Somewhat 4 – A lot 5 – Very Much

1) If you were to marry, to what extent would you miss the life 1 2 3 4 5

you had as a single person?

2) How difficult would it be for you to give up your personal

freedom if you were married? 1 2 3 4 5

3) How difficult would it be for you to adjust to married life? 1 2 3 4 5

4) Do you ever have doubts about whether you would enjoy living

exclusively with one person after marriage? 1 2 3 4 5

5) Do you think you would enjoy the responsibilities of marriage? 1 2 3 4 5

6) If you marry, how happy do you think you will be? 1 2 3 4 5

7) Do you ever think that you may not have a successful marriage? 1 2 3 4 5

8) Do you ever think you will find someone who would be a good

marriage partner? 1 2 3 4 5

9) Do you ever think that you should stay single? 1 2 3 4 5

10) Do you ever worry that the person you marry wouldn’t fulfill

his/her responsibilities in the marriage? 1 2 3 4 5

11) Do you ever worry that the person you marry would be violent 1 2 3 4 5

or abusive to you?

12) I believe marriage is one of the most important things in life. 1 2 3 4 5

13) A bad marriage is better than no marriage at all. 1 2 3 4 5

14) A person isn’t really grown up until he/she gets married. 1 2 3 4 5

Attitudes Toward Divorce Scale
Please respond to each of the following statements by circling the appropriate

rating on each scale

1 – Not at all 2 – A little 3 – Somewhat 4 – A lot 5 – Very Much

1) When people marry, they should be willing to stay together 1 2 3 4 5

no matter what happens.

2) If people are not happy in their marriage, they owe it to

themselves to get a divorce and try to improve their lives. 1 2 3 4 5

3) The marriage vow “till death do us part” represents a sacred 1 2 3 4 5

commitment to another person and should not be taken lightly.

4) The negative effects of divorce on children have been greatly 1 2 3 4 5

exaggerated.

5) In the long run, American society will be seriously harmed by 1 2 3 4 5

the high divorce rate.

6) Many people that get divorced are too weak to make personal 1 2 3 4 5

sacrifices for the good of their families.

7) People should feel no great obligation to remain married if 1 2 3 4 5

they are not satisfied.

8) Even if people are unhappy with their marriage, they should 1 2 3 4 5

stay together and try to improve it.

9) These days, the marriage vow “till death do us part” is just a 1 2 3 4 5

formality. It doesn’t really mean that people should stay in

an unsatisfactory marriage.

10) Most children of divorced parents experience negative effects 1 2 3 4 5

of divorce for the rest of their lives.

11) The fact that most individuals no longer feel that they have to 1 2 3 4 5

stay in unhappy marital relationships will benefit society.

12) Most people who get divorced do so as a last resort, only after 1 2 3 4 5

trying other solutions to the problems in their marriage.

15 Item Commitment Measure
My Goals for the Future of our Relationship

Instructions:

To what extent does each of the following statements describe your feelings regarding your

relationship? Please use the following scale to record an answer for each statement listed below.

Response Scale:

012345678

Do Not Agree Agree Agree

At All Somewhat Completely

Response

1) I will do everything I can to make our relationship last for the rest of our

lives.

2) I feel completely attached to my partner and our relationship.

3) I often talk to my partner about what things will be like when we are very

old.

4) I feel really awful when things are not going well in our relationship.

5) I am completely committed to maintaining our relationship.

6) I frequently imagine life with my partner in the distant future.

7) When I make plans about future events in life, I carefully consider the

impact of my decisions on our relationship.

8) I spend a lot of time thinking about the future of our relationship.

9) I feel really terrible when things are not going well for my partner.

10) I want our relationship to last forever.

11) There is no chance at all that I would ever become romantically involved

with another person.

12) I am oriented toward the long-term future of our relationship (for example, I

imagine life with my partner decades from now).

13) My partner is more important to me than anyone else in life – more

important than my parents, friends, etc.

14) I intend to do everything humanly possible to make our relationship persist.

15) If our relationship were ever to end, I would feel that my life was destroyed.