Maintaining a long-term relationship—and keeping both yourself and your partner happy��is no easy feat. Whether you disagree about your savings goals, have opposite tastes in movies, or simply can't agree on who should unload the dishwasher, even the most solid couples have their differences. Unfortunately, in some cases, those relationship peccadilloes become insurmountable issues over time. In fact, according to one study, the absence of one specific factor among married couples—and nothing having to do with their activities in the bedroom—led more than half of them to divorce. Read on to discover what could be putting your union at risk.
RELATED: Doing This Together Led 20 Percent of Couples to Divorce in New Survey.
Read the original article on Best Life.
Not being able to talk to one another was blamed for more than half of divorces in one study.
ShutterstockWhile cheating, financial infidelity, and abuse are among the more commonly cited reasons for the dissolution of marriages, not all relationships go out with a bang.
According to a study published in the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, among a group of 886 divorcing parents, 53 percent said that the fact that they were "not able to talk together" was the main catalyst for seeking a divorce.
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Having different priorities was a major red flag, too.
iStockIt's not just a communication breakdown that led to numerous divorces, however. In fact, there was one marital problem that was actually cited as a reason for splitting among more people than a breakdown in communication.
Among those polled as part of the Journal of Divorce & Remarriage study, 55 percent said that simply "growing apart" had led to their split.
Certain reasons for splitting were associated with reduced reconciliation rates.
iStockWhile research suggests that up to 15 percent of divorced couples eventually reconcile, there are specific reasons for marital dissolution that make getting back together especially unlikely.
The Journal of Divorce & Remarriage study's authors found that money issues, differing tastes, and growing apart were associated with low rates of interest in reconciliation, and there was little interest in reconciliation when cheating or abuse was involved.
Having differences may keep your relationship together.
iStockThough having similar interests and tastes may seem like a surefire predictor of relationship satisfaction, having some differences may actually be key to keeping your union intact.
According to a study from Queendom, which analyzed data from 2,560 people who took the site's Relationship Satisfaction Test, it wasn't agreeing on everything that was the highest predictor of relationship satisfaction. Instead, it was whether or not the differences between partners were complementary that best predicted couples' happiness in their relationship.
RELATED: You're More Likely to Divorce If You Met Your Spouse This Way, New Study Says.
