Gore, Edwards, Tiger: Is Divorce Contagious?

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Tiger Woods

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It seems wherever you look these days, there’s a prominent married couple splitting up in public, tragic fashion. (via CNN)

A new study finds if a couple in your social circle decides to call it quits, your own odds of getting a divorce increase by 75%.

The research, led by Brown U. psychologist Rose McDermott, examined over 12,000 residents of Framingham, Mass. since 1948, found that divorce can spread like a virus. Deemed “divorce clustering,” it also extends to friends-of-friends, but the odds then drop to a third.

And staying together for the kids doesn’t seem to matter: Children reportedly have no influence over the fate of a marriage.

Will million-dollar celebrity divorce settlements succumb to the domino effect too? Only Tiger can tell.