TY - JOUR
T1 - Power Asymmetry and Early Intervention in Divorce
AU - van Dijk, Marian A.J.
AU - Zebel, Sven
AU - Giebels, Ellen
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by a Grant from the Dutch Legal Aid Board. The sponsor also allowed access to their website to enable data collection but had no involvement in the design of the study, analysis or interpretation of the data, writing of the report, or decision to submit the article. The authors acknowledge and thank valuable contributions of Janneke Overduin, Esmée Bickel,Michiel van Galen, Gerrie ten Have, and Corry van Zeeland.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Psychological Association
PY - 2023/8
Y1 - 2023/8
N2 - Individuals going through divorce often experience an imbalance of power, and this is likely to change throughout the divorce process. In this study, we examine the relationship between perceived differences in relative power among individuals going through divorce and their subsequently reported emotions, appraisals of agreements, and third-party involvement in divorce settlement. Our main expectation was that an initially perceived disadvantage in power would influence subsequent stages of the divorce process, even when the perceived disadvantage reduces over time. Furthermore, we expected an empowering effect of an educational web based intervention that can reach people early in the divorce process. Using a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design, the sample included 312 Dutch adults who visited (260) or did not visit (52) a web-based intervention and were assessed at three points in time. As expected, and despite a decrease in perceptions of power asymmetry over time, we observed enduring detrimental effects of an early power disadvantage in terms of higher emotional costs, more dissatisfaction with the process and content of the agreements, and more third-party involvement. Interestingly, those who reported power asymmetry (both as disadvantage ánd advantage) also reported more third-party lawyer and less mediator involvement. Also as expected, in this sample, those who reported a power disadvantage and used the web based intervention, reported higher power at a later stage than those who did not use the web intervention. This study points at the importance of signaling, and potentially offering a remedy for, perceived power disadvantages in the initial stages of a divorce process.
AB - Individuals going through divorce often experience an imbalance of power, and this is likely to change throughout the divorce process. In this study, we examine the relationship between perceived differences in relative power among individuals going through divorce and their subsequently reported emotions, appraisals of agreements, and third-party involvement in divorce settlement. Our main expectation was that an initially perceived disadvantage in power would influence subsequent stages of the divorce process, even when the perceived disadvantage reduces over time. Furthermore, we expected an empowering effect of an educational web based intervention that can reach people early in the divorce process. Using a quasi-experimental pretest–posttest design, the sample included 312 Dutch adults who visited (260) or did not visit (52) a web-based intervention and were assessed at three points in time. As expected, and despite a decrease in perceptions of power asymmetry over time, we observed enduring detrimental effects of an early power disadvantage in terms of higher emotional costs, more dissatisfaction with the process and content of the agreements, and more third-party involvement. Interestingly, those who reported power asymmetry (both as disadvantage ánd advantage) also reported more third-party lawyer and less mediator involvement. Also as expected, in this sample, those who reported a power disadvantage and used the web based intervention, reported higher power at a later stage than those who did not use the web intervention. This study points at the importance of signaling, and potentially offering a remedy for, perceived power disadvantages in the initial stages of a divorce process.
KW - Divorce
KW - Early intervention
KW - Longitudinal data
KW - Online intervention
KW - Power asymmetry
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85147040964&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/law0000376
DO - 10.1037/law0000376
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85147040964
SN - 1076-8971
VL - 29
SP - 383
EP - 401
JO - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
JF - Psychology, Public Policy, and Law
IS - 3
ER -