“A Study on the Attitude towards Divorce and Co-habitation in the Indian Society”
- September 20, 2020
- Posted by: RSIS
- Categories: IJRISS, Psychology
International Journal of Research and Innovation in Social Science (IJRISS) | Volume IV, Issue IX, September 2020 | ISSN 2454–6186
“A Study on the Attitude towards Cohabitation and Divorce in the India”
Soumita Ramesh, Sanjana Barot, Vrishti Jain
Undergraduate Students, Department of Psychology, Mithibai College of Arts, Science and Commerce (Autonomous), Mumbai Maharashtra
Abstract- Indian society as a whole being a patriarchal society is slowly undergoing a transformation in terms of people’s attitudes towards cohabitation and divorce. While some contend that attitudes guide behaviour we are seeing people more openly opting for a live in relationship or a divorce when their marriage does not work out. Given this contention, the current study aimed to understand the attitudes towards cohabitation and divorce in Indian society. It was hypothesised that there will be a significant difference between adolescents, adults and the elderly in terms of their attitudes towards divorce and cohabitation. The objective of the study was to verify whether the level of openness towards divorce and cohabitation is increasing with every pass-ing generation. Participants ranging from 17 to 60 years up were contacted via the method of convenience sampling to fill an online survey from which their demographic details and attitudes towards cohabitation and divorce were obtained. A survey was designed based on past research was used to assess the sample’s attitudes. Data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics and interpreted. This study provides a clear under-standing of how different are the attitudes among the three age groups i.e adolescents, adults and elderly.
Keywords- Attitudes, Cohabitation, Divorce, Adolescents, Adults, Elderly, Indian Society
I. INTRODUCTION
Indian society is a highly collectivist society and family is an apex social institution. India is a country where marriage is treated as a sacramental bonding between two people. The concept of husband, wife and family is still given utmost im-portance in the country. Marriage is emphasized as covering subjects like marriage patterns, selection of marriage partner, age at marriage, marriage rituals, financial exchanges and divorce. All around the world since the family institution holds so much importance the concept of cohabitation is becoming widespread. But in Indian society, though it is not illegal, the majority considers it to be aberrant and is looked down upon. It is seen that the attitude towards marriage, cohabitation and divorce largely varies upon the generation to which people belonged. Cohabitation can be defined as couples living together without being married (Feldman, Babu, 2017). Divorce is defined as the termination of a marriage otherwise than by death or annulment. (Mozley and Whitley, 1967).
