There Was No "Thousand Years of Love"... The Reason for Deciding to Marry Is "Because It's the Better Option"

Survey on 'Returned Singles' Target Group
Fatal Flaws Found: Men's Boredom Phase, Women's Newlywed Period

Returning singles (divorcees) revealed that they married because their ex-spouse was 'better among the options,' with men discovering fatal flaws in their partner during the 'boredom phase' and women during the 'honeymoon period,' which made them consider divorce.

On the 31st, Only-U, a remarriage-specialized matchmaking company, jointly conducted a survey with matchmaking company Bienarae (CEO Son Dong-gyu) from the 24th to 29th among 556 nationwide (twilight) remarriage hopeful singles (278 men and 278 women) via email and the internet on the theme of 'Differences between the spouse considered before marriage and after marriage.'

'Married because they were "better among the options"... "Satisfaction is not high despite careful spouse selection"

First, regarding the question, 'How satisfied were you with your partner as a spouse when deciding to marry your ex-spouse?' the answers from men and women generally aligned.

'Better among the options (Men 36.0%, Women 34.2%)' and 'Uncertain state (Men 31.6%, Women 30.2%)' ranked first and second respectively, followed by 'Suffocating (Men 21.2%, Women 20.5%)' and 'Reluctantly accepting (Men 11.2%, Women 15.1%)' in third and fourth places.

An Only-U representative explained, "Marriage is a major life event, and both men and women put great effort into choosing the best spouse. However, because they are very particular, satisfaction with the spouse is not significantly high even after careful selection."

CEO Son Dong-gyu added, "People marry or remarry to increase happiness in their lives. Therefore, they should focus on factors that practically contribute to a happy marriage or minimize factors that cause unhappiness when choosing a spouse."

Fatal flaws discovered early but... "Many endure living together"

[Image source=Pixabay]

The second question was, 'When did you discover fatal flaws in your partner that influenced the decision to divorce during your marriage with your ex-spouse?'

For this question, 32.0% of men answered 'boredom phase,' while 29.1% of women answered 'honeymoon period,' making these the highest proportions.

Men followed with 'after more than 5 years of marriage (28.1%)', 'honeymoon period (19.8%)', and 'during honeymoon trip (14.0%)' in order.

Women responded with 'boredom phase (27.3%)', 'during honeymoon trip (18.7%)', and 'after more than 5 years of marriage (17.7%)' in order.

Summarizing the survey results, 71.9% of men and 82.3% of women experienced fatal flaws in their partner before the boredom phase (within 5 years of marriage).

Only-U CEO Son Dong-gyu explained, "Recently, early divorces during the honeymoon period have increased, but among singles over their 50s, many endure serious problems discovered early in marriage for a long time. They only proceed with divorce after resolving issues such as child-rearing or financial problems."

Spouse's pre-marriage strengths become 'not particularly significant' after marriage

[Image source=Pixabay]

Lastly, regarding the question, 'How did the partner's greatest strength, which played a decisive role in deciding to marry your ex-spouse, function during married life?' 32.7% of men answered it played a 'temporarily positive role,' the highest proportion.

Following that were 'minimal practical contribution during marriage (28.1%)', 'supportive role throughout marriage (22.3%)', and 'acted as a drawback in married life (16.9%)' in order.

For women, 31.7% answered 'minimal practical contribution during marriage,' the highest proportion. This was followed by 'supportive role throughout marriage (28.8%)', 'acted as a drawback in married life (25.5%)', and 'temporarily positive role (14.0%).'

Lee Kyung, General Manager of Bienarae, explained, "Generally, men prioritize the partner's appearance and women prioritize economic power when choosing a spouse, but in actual married life, these factors do not play a significant role. Especially, the partner's appearance contributes very little to a (happy) marriage, and even a spouse with strong economic power may be stingy or domineering, or use money negatively, which adversely affects the marriage."

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