A Study on Facts, Causes and Consequences of Divorce Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

A Study on Facts, Causes and Consequences of Divorce Using Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

R. Sumathi J. Jayalakshmi

Science & Humanities Department Science & Humanities Department KCG College of Technology, Chennai KCG College of Technology, Chennai

The objective of this paper is to find out the important factor causing divorce. The rise in divorce rates has become a key phenomenon underlying significant changes in family structure. The most common reasons people give for their divorce are infidelity, communication breakdown, physical- emotional-psychological abuse, marital financial issues, incompatibility, religious & cultural strains, addiction and differences in expectations & priorities. To study this problem, these eight important factors have been analyzed. Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) is an effective method which analyses the data by directed graphs and connection matrices. Now we use this model to study the factors for divorce.

Keywords: factors for divorce, FCM, Infidelity

1. Introduction

   This paper has four sections. In the first section, we discuss the methods of applications of FCM connection matrix. In section two, we describe the most common factors for divorce. The section three deals with the procedure to find out the most important factor for divorce by using FCM connection matrix. In final section, we derive conclusions and give suggestions based on our study.

   At first, a political scientist Axelrod (1976) introduced cognitive maps for representing social scientific knowledge and describing the methods that are used for decision making in social and political systems. Then Kosko (1986, 1992) enhanced the power of cognitive maps considering fuzzy values for the concepts of the cognitive map and fuzzy degrees of interrelationships between concepts. After this pioneering work, Fuzzy Cognitive Maps attracted the attention of scientists from many fields and have been used in a variety of different scientific problems. For the first time in the year1998 matrix theory was developed

   byW.B.Vasantha andV.Indira to study the passenger transportation problem.

   1.1 The method of application of FCM connection matrix

   Fuzzy Cognitive Map (FCM) methodology is a symbolic representation for the description and modeling of complex system. Fuzzy Cognitive Maps describe different aspects in the behavior of a complex system in terms of concepts; each concept represents a state or a characteristic of the system and these concepts interact with each other showing the dynamics of the system. FCMs illustrate the whole system by a graph showing the cause and effect along concepts, and are a simple way to describe the systems model and behavior in a symbolic manner, exploiting the accumulated knowledge of the system. A Fuzzy Cognitive Map integrates the accumulated experience and knowledge on the operation of the system, as a result of the method by which it is constructed, i.e., using human experts that know the operation of

   system and its behavior in different circumstances.

   An FCM is a directed graph with concepts as nodes and causalities as edges. It represents causal relationship between concepts. When the nodes of the FCM are fuzzy sets then they are called as fuzzy nodes. FCMs with edge weights or causalities from the set {1, 0, 1} are called simple FCMs. Let C1, C2, ,Cn be the nodes of an FCM. Suppose the directed graph is drawn using edge weight eij

   {0, 1, 1}. The matrix E is defined by E = (eij) where eij is the weight of the directed edge CiCj. E is called the adjacency matrix of the FCM, also known as the connection matrix of the FCM. Let C1C2 , C2C3 , C3C4 ,, CiCjbe the edges of the FCM (i j). Then the edges form a directed cycle. An FCM is said to be cyclic if it possesses a directed cycle. An FCM is said to be acyclic if it does not possess any directed cycle. An FCM with cycles is said to have a feedback.

   If A = (a1, a2, , an) where ai {0, 1}, then A is called the instantaneous state vector and it denotes the on-off position of the node at an instant. ai = 0 if ai is off and ai = 1 if ai is on for i = 1, 2, , n. If the FCM settles down with a state vector repeating in the form A1 A2

   ymbo

   ymbo

   as bee

   as bee

   Ai A1 then this equilibrium is called a limit cycle. A = (a1, , an) is a vector which is passed into a dynamical system E. Then AE = (a'1, ,a'n) after thresholding and updating the vector suppose we get (b1, , bn) we denote that by (a'1, a'2, , a'n) (b1, b2, , bn). Thus the l means the resultant vector h n thresholded and updated. The edges eij take values in the fuzzy causal interval [1, 1]. eij = 0 indicates no causality, eij> 0 indicates causal increase i.e. Cj increases as Ci increases (or Cj decreases as Ci decreases). eij< 0 indicates causal decrease or negative causality

   i.e. Cj decreases as Ci increases (and/or Cj increases as Ci decreases). Simple FCMs have edge values in {1, 0, 1}. Then if causality occurs, it occurs to a maximal positive or negative degree.

2. Most Common Factors of Divorce

   Marriage is the very beautiful gift, which God has given to human beings. It gives pleasure, security, peace, and family. In life, there is happiness and worries, which men/women have to face and try to solve problems. The base of the family is made on the marriage; if the marriage is strong, the family

   will be happy otherwise the whole family will suffer. In a marriage, compromise should be from both sides. Relation of husband and wife makes life beautiful and loveable, but unfortunately, most of the couples these days fail to understand its beauty and charm. They mostly quarrel with each other and create misunderstandings, and end of this can be in the separation or divorce.

   Divorce is the final termination of a marriage, canceling the legal duties and responsibilities of marriage and dissolving the bonds of marriage between husband and wife. Divorce is one of the hardest things a family can go through. This has forced people to think that it is becoming a global trend. The family structure is disintegrating worldwide and spreading like an epidemic. All over the world, the divorce rate among couples is increasing at an alarming rate. Many studies and researches have come forward to discuss this social phenomenon. Most of these studies try to focus on the common causes of divorce.

   For our study, we have interviewed 100 married couples in different ages. In the collected data, we mainly concentrate on the eight most common factors causing divorce, which are described below:

   1. Infidelity

      Mutual trust is the base of most of the relationships. Relationships do break up when either of the partners deceive to the other. Infidelity is the important reason for divorce. When partners become unfaithful to one another the relationship will end up and divorce become the solution to enjoy legal freedom.

   2. Communication Breakdown

      Lack of communication creates lot of gaps among couples. Such gaps lead to lot of misunderstandings between them. Communication problem is not because they can't express their feelings to one another. The 'ego' stops them to be open up to one other. If they don't speak for a longer time that stops two ways communication, then there is a danger of ending their relationship.

   3. Physical, Emotional or Psychological Abuse

      Any abuse brings lot of pain in all the relationships. Marriage is the bond which is completely made up of mutual dependencies and expectations. Physial abuse, including bullying, manhandling, or violence is quite

      unbearable and has clear grounds for divorce. Emotional or psychological abuse hurts the emotions of a partner and the chances are very less to stay back with an abusive person.

   4. Marital Financial Issues

      Financial strains are often the biggest reasons for the collapse of a marriage. Possible causes for the disagreement over unequal monetary status or financial responsibilities can cause so much of stress in their relationship that leads to their divorce.

   5. Incompatibility

      Incompatibility or mismatch is one of the main causes of divorce. Incompatibility can be sexually, intellectually and emotionally. In these cases it is difficult to live with a person you cannot fit with.

   6. Religious and Cultural Strains

      Marriage between different religion, culture and ethnicity is a common trend in these days. Living with a different cultural background is not an easy thing at all. There has to be lot of adjustments and sacrifices from both the sides. The Couples of a different religion, culture or ethnicity sometimes do not take up the expectations of their partner's religion and often cause resentment among them. The differences are mainly due to the several taboos posed by a culture. Mutual compromise can only solve this issue and save partners too.

   7. Addiction

      Over use of alcohol, drug or gambling are usually all forms of addiction, which can ruin relationships. The problem becomes worst when combined with physical or verbal abuse, and can leave devastating emotional scars on the whole family, including children also. Addiction will definitely make you to lose your interests in the family affairs. It's better to be conscious about our habits before getting addict.

   8. Differences in Expectations and Priorities

   It's difficult to get reflexive partner in the life. Each person thinks differently since each one have unique backgrounds. As everyone has got different personality traits, the different priorities, perceptions and expectations towards life are also found to be alike. Sometimes the couples are so drastically

   different that they cannot cope up living together and wish their marriage to an end.

   Now we analyze this problem by using FCM Connection Matrix method.

3. Description Of The Problem

   The aim of this paper is to identify the most important factor which causes divorce. The eight factors which are listed above are taken as nodes or concepts,i.e.,

   C1 – Infidelity

   C2 – Communication Breakdown

   C3 – Physical, Emotional or Psychological Abuse

   C4 – Marital Financial Issues C5 – Incompatibility

   C6 – Religious and Cultural Strains C7 – Addiction

   C8 – Differences in Expectations and Priorities The directed graph is drawn by taking

   these factors C1, C2, , C8 as nodes depicted inside the circles and the causalities among these nodes are denoted by the edges which is shown in the Figure 1.

   C1 C2

   C3

   C8

   C4

   C7

   C6 C5

   Figure 1 Directed graph

   The corresponding FCM connection matrix is represented by E.

4. Conclusion

   Consider the first node C1 = 1. We hold or clamp C1 on the temporal associative memories recall process. Threshold signal functions synchronously update each concept after each pass, through the connection matrix

   E. We start with the infidelity

   A1= 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 . The arrow indicates the threshold operation.

   Now A1 = 1	0	0	0	0	0	0 0
   A1E = 0 1	0	0	1	0	0	0

   1 1 0 0 1 0 0 0 = A2

   A2E = 1 2 2 0 2 1 0 0

   1 1 1 0 1 1 0 0 = A3

   A3E = 1 4 3 0 4 1 0 1

   1 1 1 0 1 1 0 1 = A4

   A4E = 1 5 4 1 5 1 0 1

   1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 = A5

   A5E = 1 6 5 1 6 1 0 2

   1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1 = A6

   = A5

   We observe that infidelity influences all otherattributes except addiction, as

   (1 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 1) is a limit cycle.

   From the above fuzzy matrix analysis, all other states except addiction becomes ON in important factor causing divorce.

   = 0 1	0	0	1	0	0	0	In this section, we give the conclusions based on the above analysis and interviews.
   1 0	1	0	1	0	0 0
   0 1	0	0	1	0	0 0 by making Infidelity state ON, we observe that
   0 1	1	0	1	0	0 1 the limit cycle. So infidelity becomes the most
   0 1	1	0	0	1	0 0 When two people get married, they
   0 1	1	0	1	0	0 1 end in divorce. But then hard times arise and
   0 1	1	0	1	0	0 0 casually or seriously about divorce. But most
   0 1	1	1	1	0	0 0 their philosophy of divorce. The rate of divorce

   = 0 1	0	0	1	0	0	0	In this section, we give the conclusions based on the above analysis and interviews.
   1 0	1	0	1	0	0 0
   0 1	0	0	1	0	0 0 by making Infidelity state ON, we observe that
   0 1	1	0	1	0	0 1 the limit cycle. So infidelity becomes the most
   0 1	1	0	0	1	0 0 When two people get married, they
   0 1	1	0	1	0	0 1 end in divorce. But then hard times arise and
   0 1	1	0	1	0	0 0 casually or seriously about divorce. But most
   0 1	1	1	1	0	0 0 their philosophy of divorce. The rate of divorce

   usually arent thinking that the marriage will sometimes they find themselves thinking either people havent really thought carefully about

   is higher among educated families, although such laws had been made which totally support women seeking divorce and the whole procedure has been made easier. Sometimes the situation becomes worse due to lack of compromise from both sides and egotistical attitude. Lack of tolerance and compromise among couples plays a vital role in increase in rate of divorce. Whatever the causes of divorce, its effects present the same issues all over the world. Divorce affects the society adversely. Living in an abandoned situation feels like crushed to ground at times. Children suffer from loneliness, deprivations, and heartaches. Living life without motherin the house or father figure in the family can cause serious problems in all ages of children but particularly in adolescence. The complete social system go all in vain, physical and psychological abuse, poor performance in academic life, drop out are few of the examples of negative effects of divorce.

   To succeed in marriage, life partners need to take effort in developing the 7-C positive qualities – cherishing Compatibility, Complimenting & respecting each other, Cultivating patience, Communicating regularly, Caring & trusting each other, Contentment with selflessness, loving un-Conditionally. If the married couples possess all these 7-C qualities, they can overcome any issues in their life and can avoid the worst scenario of divorce.

   As with most good things, a long and satisfying marriage takes time and effort – on the part of both spouses. Your reward is happiness of the highest order.

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