Did Divorces Decline After the Oklahoma City Bombing? A County-Level Analysis of Divorce Rates in Oklahoma, 1985-2000

Paul A. Nakonezny, University of North Texas
Joseph L. Rodgers, University of Oklahoma
Rebecca Reddick, University of North Texas

We analyzed divorce data from 1985 to 2000 for all 77 counties in Oklahoma to assess the divorce response to the Oklahoma City bombing. Our prediction was that divorce rates in Oklahoma would decrease in response to the bombing. The polynomial regression results revealed that there were lower observed divorce rates during each of the first four years (1996-1999) following the Oklahoma City bombing than the prevailing 10-year cubic divorce trend would have predicted. However, in 2000, five years after the bombing, the average observed divorce rate (6.106) in Oklahoma nearly converged with the predicted level (6.098). We present two theories, Terror Management Theory and Attachment Theory, that help interpret the overall decrease in divorce following the Oklahoma City bombing.