Facebook has been linked to 66 percent of divorces in the U.S. according to the American Academy of Matrimonial Lawyers (AAML).
The survey found that 81 percent of the nations top divorce lawyers said more clients have cited using social networks as evidence in the past five years. Married people are using Facebook to meet others, while spouses are finding out about it because the communication is freely available online.
Marlene Eskind Moses, the president of AAML, warns against using Facebook to reveal facts about your personal life.
If you publicly post any contradictions to previously made statements and promises, an estranged spouse will certainly be one of the first people to notice and make use of that evidence, said Moses in a press release about the study.
A couple and marriage counselor says that social networks can lead to marital affairs whether intended or not.
I dont think these people typically set out to have affairs, said Steven Kimmons, a clinical psychologist of Loyola University Medical Center in Illinois in an interview with Newswise. A lot of it is curiosity. They see an old friend or someone they dated and decide to say hello and catch up on where that person is and how theyre doing.
Kimmons said it comes down to how much time you are spending with your spouse versus people on Facebook. The more time you spend on Facebook connecting with other people, the more likely you are to develop feelings for them.
If Im talking to one person five times a week versus another person one time a week, you dont need a fancy psychological study to conclude that Im more likely to fall in love with the person I talk to five times a week because I have more contact with that person, Kimmons said.
The study was presented in a press release by AAML on February 10.
