Attribution theory (Fletcher & Fincham, 1991; Graham & Folkes,
1990;Weiner, 1986) provides a useful framework for understanding how
the perceived causes of divorce might relate to postdivorce adjustment. If
people attribute the cause of a problem (such as being unemployed) to internal
factors (such as one’s lack of ability), then they are likely to experience
negative views of the self and distressing emotions. However, when
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people attribute the cause of a problem to external factors (such as fluctuations
in the economy or bad luck), these negative outcomes are less likely.
This principle also may apply to divorce—that is, former spouses may
have a more difficult time adjusting to divorce when they make internal
rather than external attributions about the cause of marital disruption. In
particular, attributing causality to the spouse or to external factors should
result in the least distress, and attributing causality to oneself should result
in the greatest distress. Attributing causality to the relationship itself (thus
implying that one is at least partly responsible) may result in an intermediate
level of distress. These considerations suggest that it is not the specific
cause of divorce as much as the underlying attribution of blame that affects
people’s subsequent adjustment.