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Putting aside all other factors other than the loss of a loved one, do you feel that one is more superior than the other from an emotional standpoint? Don't count financial loss, kids involvement, etc... I'm talking strictly about the loss people feel during a breakup or divorce. Do you see one as emotionally more damaging than the other?

My mother and I were having a disagreement on this topic and I decided to do a poll to get some outside advice.

My mother believes in a more spiritual/supernatural explanation for why she feels marriage holds a stronger emotional bond than a relationship without the title. She's Christian so she believes that God created man and woman to "become one" when they are married. She says that I can't fully understand it because I'm young and I haven't been married before. She says it's something someone just has to experience.

I agree with how divorce can most likely have a greater effect than a break up because most of the time dating doesn't hold the same responsibility that marriage does. The title of marriage and the fact that you're signing yourself away to a huge life commitment emotionally and financially automatically gives it an advantage. But I suggested to her that it is possible for a couple that's going through the breakup of a serious relationship to have the same emotional damage as a maritally divorced couple. Most long term dating relationships do explore/carry out the same duties that make up an officially married couple.

To me, marriage is just a title. I think how close a couple is during the relationship has wayyy more to do with how they'll feel once separated regardless of label. I explained that I think there's a logical explanation for why divorce might typically have more of an emotional effect than dating. There's gotta be a quantifiable reason as to why people often feel a greater connection when they have the marriage title.