Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries: What factors led to divorce? - Los Angeles Times
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Kim Kardashian, Kris Humphries: What factors led to divorce?

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Well, that was fast. Kim Kardashian is putting the kibosh on her marriage to Kris Humphries little more than 10 weeks after their $10-million wedding.

“I had hoped this marriage was forever but sometimes things don’t work out as planned,†she said in a statement.

The divorce comes just weeks after the premiere of “Keeping Up with the Kardashians: Kim’s Fairytale Wedding: A Kardashian Event†-- a two-night special that reportedly drew an average of 4 million viewers.

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PHOTOS: Short celebrity marriages

As extravagant as the wedding was and as public as the divorce has already become, Kim and Kris would not be the first celebrity couple to call it quits so soon after tying the knot. Take Liza Minelli and David Gest, who reportedly spent about $3.5 million on their wedding and separated after 16 months; or Eddie Murphy, who split with Tracey Edmonds just two weeks after getting hitched in French Polynesia on New Year’s Day 2008.

There are hints that the upcoming season of “Kourtney and Kim Take New York†will give a look into the couple’s dynamic preceding the divorce.

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From MTV: “In previews for the show, fans have gotten a peek at the short-lived marriage. ‘How am I going to have my career and live in Minnesota?’ Kim asks Kris when he suggests they move to his hometown. His response? ‘Baby, by the time you have kids and they’re in school, nobody will probably care about you.’ â€

Giving up a thriving career did not appear to be on the bride’s to-do list.

Some research shows that women with careers may be more likely to leave an unhappy marriage. “When wives report better-than-average marital satisfaction, their employment affects neither spouse’s exit,†according to a 2011 study in the American Journal of Sociology, the authors write. “However, when wives report below-average marital satisfaction, their employment makes it more likely they will leave.â€

It might seem like more financially well-off couples should have fewer financial problems getting in the way; studies such as a 2011 paper from Psychological Reports show that the more financially satisfied a couple is, the more stable they are to be in their marriages. But even rich couples can have nasty arguments over money, perhaps potentially causing marital problems.

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As EW’s Popwatch observed about the wedding special, “Humphries was routinely railroaded over wedding plans by Kim and Kris [Jenner, Kardashian’s mother] and routinely badmouthed by Kim’s sister Khloe, who was determined he sign a prenuptial agreement.â€

Taking the historical view, another 2011 study in the Journal of Family History found that, at least in 19th and early 20th century Netherlands, the higher your social class, the higher the rate of divorce. Perhaps having social (and economic) status to spare buffers the negative financial and social impacts of divorce, if not the emotional ones.

PHOTOS: Short celebrity marriages

Follow me on Twitter @LAT_aminakhan.

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