Variations in Divorce Rates by Community Size: A Test of the Social Integration Explanation

This study tests the hypothesis that level of social integration may account for the correlation between community size and marital dissolution. Using data from the General Social Surveys, we find a strong correlation between the residential mobility rate and a measure of marital dissolution from which the effects of family background, religious background, socioeconomic background, and years of exposure to the divorce risk have been removed (r = .805). This correlation leads us to the conclusion that the positive correlation between community size and marital dissolution may be at least partially explained by the higher levels of residential mobility in large cities and urban areas than in small cities and rural areas. Moreover, we theorize that high residential mobility is both an indicator and a source of low social integration.