Divorce is higher among religiously conservative Protestants \u2013 and even drives up divorce rates for other people living around them, a new study finds.<\/span><\/span> But the study went a step further: Glass and another researcher also discovered that people living in areas with lots of conservative Protestants were at higher risk of getting divorced, even if they weren\u2019t conservative Protestants themselves.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n
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The study, slated to be published in the American Journal of Sociology, tackles the \u201cpuzzling paradox\u201d of why divorce is more common in religiously conservative \u201cred\u201d states. If religious conservatives believe firmly in the value of marriage, why is divorce especially high in places like Alabama and Arkansas?<\/span><\/span>
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To figure that out, researchers from the University of Texas and the University of Iowa analyzed county divorce statistics against information from an earlier study of religious congregations. They categorized Protestant denominations that believe the Bible is literally true as \u201cconservative Protestants.\u201d<\/span><\/span>
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Researchers discovered that higher divorce rates among conservative Protestants were tied to earlier marriages and childbearing \u2013 factors known to ramp up divorce. Starting families earlier tends to stop young adults from pursuing more education and depresses their wages, putting more strain on marriages, University of Texas at Austin professor Jennifer Glass said.<\/span><\/span>\n