Once upon a time, divorce was caused by things like one spouse’s affairs … with other people.
But times have changed, thanks, in large part, to technology.
A newly released study, perhaps not conducted with strict scientific rigor, finds that a whopping fifteen percent of divorces are caused by one spouse’s … compulsion for video gaming.
That represents a ten percent escalation in just one year.
The spike is speculated to be the fallout of the recession, specifically high unemployment and reduced outside-entertainment budgets.
Or of a veritable addiction, allegedly more powerful than the drug cocaine.
Particular games taking the blame are reportedly World of Warcraft, Call of Duty and Halo.
At the heart of the matter is the nongaming spouse’s belief that the gaming spouse cares more about their gaming than their spouse.
Video gamers defend their hobby and point to preexisting relationship problems that may stimulate excessive gaming.
In other relatively recent studies, virtual cheating through social networking websites, such as FaceBook, has also been blamed for a statistically significantly percentage of divorces. See my previous post, That Cheatin’ Internet Social Network.
Read more in this [Salt Lake City] Deseret News article: Video-game addiction blamed for 15 percent of divorces and this [UK] Daily Mail article: Video games being blamed for divorce as men ‘prefer World of Warcraft to their wives’.
