New York residents who work in fields dominated by the opposite sex are more likely to divorce according to a study published in the medical journal Biology Letters. This was the conclusion that a team of researchers reached after studying Danish population data gathered over several decades. Earlier studies in this area have primarily focused on men who live in communities with disproportionately high numbers of women. The research team from Stockholm University wanted to find out if having a large number of prospective sexual partners in the workplace had the same negative affect on long-term relationships.
The results of the study suggest that several factors in the workplace make divorce more or less likely. Working in a field dominated by the opposite sex was found to make divorce more likely for both men and women. The researchers say that they took known risk factors such as education, income and age into consideration.
The researchers discovered several other links between employment and divorce. Workers in fields like hospitality and entertainment that call for significant amounts of social interaction tend to divorce more frequently than those employed in more subdued sectors, and marriages are especially vulnerable when social interaction in the workplace is combined with gender imbalance. Education also seems to pay a role. Men with university degrees who work in female dominated industries are much more likely to divorce than their male colleagues who did not attend college. However, the opposite is true among women according to the study.
Even the strongest marriages can be undermined by mistrust and suspicion when one of the spouses involved works in close proximity to attractive members of the opposite sex. Attorneys with family law experience may suggest post-marital agreements to spouses who wish to avoid this pitfall. They could point out that the legal security provided by such agreements generally strengthens relationships and provides both spouses with peace of mind.
