October 31, 2008: DivorceMagazine.com poll finds readers consider divorce "morally acceptable"

by Jeffrey Cottrill

TORONTO -- Less than half a century ago, divorce still had a strong social stigma associated with it in North America. But public attitudes have changed. While there is still a very conservative and/or religious part of our society that believes that breaking up any marriage is immoral or irresponsible, the reality is the majority of us seem to tolerate and accept divorce as a part of life.

In May, a Gallup poll on American values revealed that about 70% of U.S. residents now consider divorce to be "morally acceptable"; only 22% of respondents to the same survey said they thought divorce was "morally wrong". This inspired DivorceMagazine.com to post its own poll on the subject.

More stories on divorce-related polls and surveys: Studies examine male cheating Places to find divorce lawyers Highest causes of divorce Dating post-divorce Canadian poll on marriage

Our poll, which ran from May 22 to October 31, asked readers the straightforward question: "Do you think that divorce is morally acceptable?"

About 63.8% of respondents answered "Yes." Meanwhile, 32.3% answered "No," and the remaining 3.9% chose "No opinion" for their answer. And although the poll posed the question separately to men and women, the response was not greatly different for both genders: 58.3% of men answered "Yes", as compared to 68.6% of women. While 38.9% of male respondents said they felt divorce was not morally acceptable, the result was 26.4% for female respondents.

Divorce Magazine and DivorceMagazine.com are collectively a self-help resource and reference guide for people considering or going through the divorce process. The service does not take a moral stance either for or against divorce, but rather treats it as a reality of modern life that can't be ignored. Whatever your beliefs or motivations, divorce is one of the most difficult times of your life, and you need guidance and resources to help you get through it with minimal stress and expense, so you can move on to a new life.

Tuesday, May 15
at 8 pm to 8:30 EST
Out With the Tragedy: Turning Divorce into a meaningful experience
with Allison Pescosolido and Andra Brosh, founders of Divorce Detox
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