Development and Validation of “Divorcing the Self-Incompatible Scale” (DSIS)

Background: Divorce has become an individualistic as well as collective problem in all societies requiring a sound theory and statistics to address it explanatorily and empirically. Objective: Almost all studies in various fields of knowledge have addressed divorce categorically. The present study was, however, designed to explore it as a cognitive domain by resorting to psychiatry, psychology, and religion and schema theory. Methodology: Several male and female individuals who were divorcing or divorced were interviewed to develop the 30-item divorcing the self-incompatible scale (DSIS). The scale was then administered to 548 divorcing and/or divorced selves (DDS) and their responses were subjected to Principal Axis Factoring and Promax with Kaiser Normalization to specify what factors underlie the scale. Results: The 30 items comprising the DSIS loaded acceptably on eight factors representing the cognitive families of Having Various Conflicts, Prioritizing Personal Interests, Having No Principles, Having No Decency, Having Different Tastes, Social Media Addiction, No Marital Education, and Misunderstanding Married Life. The families correlated significantly not only with each other but also with the DSIS representing the domain of divorce. Conclusion: Divorce is a cognitive domain through which the DDS reveal their self-theistic, polytheistic or practicing monotheistic selves.