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No description available.

The purpose of this study was to examine the complex process adults traverse in their passage through divorce and in their establishment of post-divorce intimate relationships. The goal of this work was to describe how adults interpret their divorce experience, particularly in terms of how it connects with their ideas about intimacy and post-divorce intimate relationships. Four theoretical frameworks guided this study. Social constructionism provided a framework for understanding that reaction to a divorce may be impacted by language, in terms of the explanations an individual makes, by social interchange with others, and by the cultural meanings of marriage and divorce that have influenced a person’s thinking and perceptions. Attribution theory contributed a systematic approach to understanding how people may construe their divorce in ways that may damage trust, promote a sense of mastery and optimism regarding future relationships, or encourage creative change. Attachment theory provided a conceptual basis for examining the interplay between stability and change in adult conceptualizations of intimate relationships, processes that underlie how adults cope with changing interpersonal situations. Finally, theories of loss and renewal offered a conceptual basis for understanding how reactions to loss evolve over time, and enter post-divorce relationships. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 21 divorced men and women. Analysis of data was guided by the research questions and structured by a phenomenological approach to the analysis of themes and variations of themes found in the interviews. Peer review and triangulation of data were used to ensure trustworthiness in the findings. This study contributes new understandings about the connection between divorce experiences and post-divorce intimacy. Three conclusions can be drawn from this study. First, data analysis revealed divorce served consistently as a catalyst for interpretation and personal growth. An important component of this interpretive endeavor was the social context within which divorce occurred. Because divorce still carries some stigma in our society, divorce provided a challenge to create positive meanings from this experience. Second, the idiosyncratic understandings developed through the interpretive process shaped adults’ post-divorce perceptions and experiences in intimate relationships. From the attributions made regarding causes of divorce, these adults claim to have made deliberate changes in communication patterns, interactions, attitudes, and expectations from self and partner in intimate relationships. Third, during this process, some fundamental shifts in mental representations occurred. Changes were linked to gender, with women viewing themselves as more assertive in relationships, and men viewing themselves as more egalitarian and responsible for relationship maintenance. / Ph. D.

Thesis (M.Soc.Sc (Clinical Psychology) North-West University, Mafikeng Campus, 2014

Divorce in the United States is so widespread that it touches the lives of every citizen in some way. Divorcing adults face a multiplicity of problems including emotional, physical, and economic factors. The literature overwhelmingly suggests evidence of stress associated with this transition process. This study surveyed the feelings and opinions of 84 recently separated or divorced adults, 23 men and 61 women, in Pima County, Arizona, through a questionnaire designed to identify current life stressors, sources of support, and the quality of that support. The two stressors that were identified most often for both men and women were loneliness and anger. The source of support listed most often for both sexes was friends. There was strong evidence to support the hypothesis that it is a universal response for people faced with stress and trauma to turn to others for help and nurturance. It would appear that support networks do help to ameliorate some of the stress and pain, and that individuals have a multisource network.

Mothers' dating after divorce has been linked to health benefits for mothers (Amato, 2000). However, this association assumes that all repartnering relationships are beneficial for mothers (Symoens et al., 2014). According to the divorce-stress-adaptation perspective (Wang & Amato, 2000), mothers' dating after divorce may be a supportive factor for her adjustment if her relationship is high quality, which can assist mothers with post-divorce stress (Amato, 2000; Wang & Amato, 2000), or can contribute to post-divorce stress through low quality relationships (Hetherington, 2003; Montgomery et al., 1992). However, not all mothers date, and those that do, use different approaches to dating, such as dating only one partner versus multiple partners. Another deficit in the literature is the influence of selection processes during repartnering. As well as examining the impact of relationship quality on maternal well-being, the current study includes the influence of stable traits, such as age and length of marriage, in order to examine the threat of selection across different repartnering histories. The current study used four repartnering histories that mothers reported after divorce (no dating, dating monogamously, dating multiple partners serially, and dating multiple partners simultaneously) to examine consequences on maternal well-being (depressive symptoms, life satisfaction, drunkenness, and unprotected sex). Relationship quality is reported for each relationship. Using longitudinal monthly diary data collected over a two-year period beginning with filing for divorce and multi-level models, I examined changes in the intercept and slope of maternal well-being for each repartnering history, as well as the effect of breakup with a particular focus on the interaction of relationship quality. To test for the threat of selection, I used mothers' stable traits as level-2 predictors. Results for this study show that mothers who enter in a high quality relationship report slightly higher levels of maternal well-being. Mothers entering low quality relationships report slightly lower levels of maternal well-being compared to times when mothers are not dating. Maternal well-being was not consistently influenced by maternal breakup. Mothers also reported increases in unprotected sex throughout the study, which may be a better marker of trust than maternal well-being. Only support was found for selection effects. Implications for maternal well-being are discussed. / text

To empirically test the impact of CEOs' outside wealth on their compensation, I use spousal divorce as a proxy for an exogenous, negative shock to a CEO's outside wealth. I hypothesize that this shock decreases a CEO's risk tolerance. I also expect that the board of directors responds to this decrease by raising the CEO's cash compensation and by increasing the sensitivity of the CEO's compensation to changes in firm value. I find that cash bonuses, restricted stock grants, and option grants increase following a CEO's divorce, consistent with boards reacting to changes in CEOs' outside wealth and risk incentives. I also find that firms' total risk and idiosyncratic risk significantly drop during the year of a CEO's divorce, consistent with a drop in the CEO's risk tolerance. Overconfident CEOs, who are more risk tolerant, do not receive the same increases in compensation following divorce. I find little support for the relation between divorce and compensation being endogenously determined by performance or by poor corporate governance. Overall, the results support predictions that the board of directors takes the CEO's wealth into account when setting compensation and that outside wealth impacts the CEO's risk preferences.

No description available.

No description available.

The main purpose of this study was to examine how coping styles, spirituality, and social support contributed to divorced persons’ adjustment to life after divorce. The study used a qualitative research design with face‑to‑face interviews. A snowball sample was used in order to inquire divorced participants’ experiences after divorce. Twelve participants were interviewed to obtain their individual experiences and discernment of divorce transition. The study found that spirituality (e.g., attending church, Bible reading, prayers) was a major copying strategy used by most of the participants after divorce. The study also revealed that the support of family and friends was utilized as another critical coping strategy to help aid divorcees in their transition to post divorce life. In addition, the findings of the study suggested that divorced participants, particularly females, were quite resilient in overcoming financial hardship, single parenting, loneliness, and abandonment. This study’s results suggest that social workers need to be more knowledgeable about and equipped to provide adequate support and therapy to divorced persons’ post‑divorcé adjustment challenges. Another practice recommendation is that social workers should play a critical role in developing and facilitating a support group to help divorcees that are transitioning post‑divorce. In addition, special attention should be paid to provide additional help and support services for men who suffer mental and emotional effects of divorce transition.