Decision to Divorce, Reason: "Many Around Me, and Often on TV"

Reasons for Hesitation in Divorce
Man: "Sunk Cost", Woman: "Future Anxiety"

A survey has been conducted targeting returned singles (divorced individuals) to investigate the reasons for deciding on divorce and the factors that caused hesitation.

On the 24th, Only-U, a remarriage-specialized matchmaking company, jointly conducted a survey with Vienarae (CEO Son Dong-gyu), a marriage information company, from the 17th to the 22nd. The survey targeted 518 nationwide (elderly) remarriage hopeful divorced men and women (259 men and 259 women each) via email and the internet, with the theme "What gave you the courage to proceed with divorce when you were struggling with whether to divorce during your marriage with your ex-spouse?"

In response to this question, 31.3% of male respondents answered "the increase in divorced singles," which was the highest proportion. This was followed by "divorce-related broadcasts (25.1%)," "successful remarriage cases (21.2%)," and "parents and siblings (15.8%)."

Among women, 28.2% chose "divorce-related broadcasts," followed by "parents and siblings (25.4%)," "children (23.2%)," and "the increase in divorced singles (16.2%)."

Son Dong-gyu, CEO of Only-U, explained, "No matter how much social trends change, it is not easy to decide on divorce while living a married life. However, it is true that the defensive barrier against divorce is breaking down as the number of divorced singles around us increases and various broadcast programs naturally deal with divorce."

Reasons for hesitation to divorce... Men: "Efforts made so far," Women: "Uncertain future"

For the second question, "What factors made you hesitate to divorce when you were struggling with whether to divorce during your marriage with your ex-spouse?" the answers differed between men and women.

30.1% of men cited "efforts made so far (during married life)," while 28.6% of women answered "uncertain future," which was the highest proportion.

Following this, men chose "children (26.3%)," "uncertain future (21.2%)," and "prejudice against divorce (15.1%)."

Women answered in the order of "children (27.0%)," "prejudice against divorce (22.0%)," and "efforts made so far (15.8%)."

An Only-U official explained, "Men, especially those who have been married for more than 10 years, tend to feel that their past efforts to secure a home and resources necessary for raising children as the main economic providers of the family were wasted. Women tend to feel anxious about stepping outside the economic protective barrier they have been under."

Reflections on previous married life... Men: "Failed to provide trust," Women: "Failed to accept differences"

For the last third question, "What do you think you should reflect on regarding your married life when divorcing your ex-spouse?" there were many points of agreement between men and women.

Men most frequently cited "failure to provide trust (32.1%)," while women chose "lack of effort to accept differences (33.2%)." However, the second and subsequent rankings were the same for both genders: "lack of effort to respect the partner (men 24.3%, women 26.3%)," "lack of effort to build empathy (men 19.7%, women 18.2%)," and "lack of role fulfillment (men 16.6%, women 15.0%)."

Lee Kyung, General Manager of Vienarae, explained, "Men often lose their spouse’s trust due to infidelity or problems related to economic activities during married life. Women tend to nag or push their husbands to change when there are differences in lifestyle or habits, rather than understanding and accepting those differences, which often upsets their partners."

Finally, CEO Son Dong-gyu emphasized, "Just because you are married does not mean you have to live together for life while being treated unfairly, and just because divorce has become common does not mean it is desirable to decide on divorce too easily. One should seriously consider how maintaining the marriage or divorcing will affect oneself and children before making a final decision."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.