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Following Grant Thornton’s recent survey, we now know that adultery is no longer the most common reason for divorce and that more people are now opting to file for a divorce as a result of them having fallen out of love with their spouses. Whilst we at Quickie Divorce have already put forward our own theory in an attempt to explain this, Grant Thornton’s spokesperson, Louisa Plumb put forward an interesting suggestion of her own: the behaviour of celebrity couples. Noting that celebrity couples such as Peter Crouch and Abbey Clancey, Cheryl and Ashley Cole, and Wayne and Coleen Rooney have survived marital infidelity, Plumb posited that the behaviour of these celebrities is influencing the behaviour of spouses that discover that their partners have engaged in marital infidelity. In short, whilst many spouses would previously have viewed their partner’s affairs as unforgivable sins and filed for a divorce without a moment’s hesitation, they are now more likely to forgive their partner’s indiscretions and persevere with their marriages. Now, we stand by the theory we put forward in our previous post, but do admit that we may have presented our conclusion in too definitive a manner. As with all significant changes that take place in the divorce arena, there are usually a plethora of social and economic factors that need to be taken into consideration and whilst many couples may delay a divorce because of the state of the economy, social factors must also be deliberated upon so that a bigger, more informative picture can be formed. Anyway, onto Plumb’s conjecture. Social commentators have long argued that celebrity behaviour is capable of influencing our actions and desires. Female celebrities are accused of promoting unhealthy diets, footballers of encouraging ostentation and musicians of promoting violence. Nevertheless, the fact remains that only a very small minority are profoundly affected by the conduct of such individuals and even fewer would look to their actions for guidance when discovering that their partner had engaged in infidelity. I accept that a small minority of people will choose to forgive a cheating spouse and avoid a divorce because “it’s what Cheryl did,” but such individuals will more than likely be so obsessed with celebrity culture that it is equally likely that they will view their cheating partner as a new accessory. Not only do they have the Prada handbag and the new pair of Jimmy Choos, they now have the philandering spouse too. As easy as it is to conclude that people are not directly influenced by the behaviour of these celebrities, however, this conclusion may well be too simplistic. The column inches relaying the stories of long suffering, yet forgiving husbands and wives may well have encouraged many a spouse to forego divorce proceedings, forgive their partners and do all that they can to recreate their previously happy and functional marriage. Why? Because this coverage showed them that it is acceptable to forgive an act of adultery. In many instances, it is the insult, not the loss of trust that leads betrayed spouses to divorce their partners; their decision to divorce, ultimately, a means of retaining lost pride. When portraying victims of adultery as being forgiving, it became more socially acceptable to forgive adultery. Those individuals that would previously have initiated divorce proceedings as soon as they discovered their spouse’s infidelity no longer find the thought of addressing this indiscretion to be deplorable or embarrassing, they now see it as socially acceptable. Still, we believe that such individuals represent a minority and that the majority of people would opt for a divorce if they discovered that their partner had been engaging in an affair. Do you agree?