Abstract

The present study assessed the relationships between irrational beliefs and the life cycles for couples that decided to divorce. One hundred and seventy eight people including 120 women and 58 mates who were referred to the divorce court were requested to fill in The Irrational Beliefs Inventory. The results showed that the majority (37.1) of the couples referred to Court were in the third part of the life cycle (raising children). Most divorced subjects had a life length between 1 to 5 years (44). The highest mean scores of irrational beliefs (296.9) were found for the fifth part of the life cycle (retirement and death). Analysis showed couples in the fifth and third part of the life cycle had significantly higher irrational beliefs than the couples in the other parts of the life cycle. Irrational beliefs such as Anxious Over-concern, Frustrated Reaction and Helplessness for Change had the highest mean scores while, the Problem Avoiding, Emotional Irresponsibility and High Self-Expectation had the lowest mean scores. © 2007 Asian Network for Scientific Information.