Extramarital affairs, marital satisfaction, and divorce : evidence from Hong Kong

This article provides the first empirical study on how the perceived changes of marital satisfaction affect marital stability using a unique data set obtained in Hong Kong. It is found that the change of marital satisfaction due to extramarital affairs clearly increases the probability of divorce, but it is not the only determinant of marital instability. In particular, the presence of dependent children in a family and good marital quality before the discovery of extramarital affairs would lower the probability of divorce. Moreover, this article generates several interesting policy implications.