Ever since Malcolm Gladwell cashed in with his bestseller, The Tipping Point; a book about attitudes and ideas disseminating within a population like an aggressive swarm of bedbugs, social scientists have been trying to grab onto that same dollar-sign-encrusted ring, rushing to “prove” that everything from obesity to suicide to happiness is as contagious as a cold sore at the kissing booth. The latest communicable condition: divorce. According to an article in the Guardian, “researchers call it ‘divorce clustering’ and say that a split up between immediate friends increases your own chances of getting divorced by 75 percent.” The odds go down the further removed the divorcing couple is from your immediate social and/or familial circle.

But is this causation or correlation? With approximately 50 percent of all marriages ending in divorce anyway, by using this logic the only way you can “divorce-proof” your union is to ditch your friends as soon as they marry or become a couple of shut-ins. If you come from a broken home, you may as well not bother walking down the aisle in the first place, since you only have a 25 percent chance of your marriage lasting anyway.

My fear is that people will see these dubious results and use it to justify their own bad behavior. One recently divorced female friend told me, “I noticed that our friends–or should I say, the female halves of our couple friends–regarded us like a smallpox virus they were afraid of catching. Like, Josh or Travis might see how great it is to be divorced and want one too.” In one section, hopefully entitled “no duh,” the study also pointed out that once the divorce is final, the woman is stands to lose up to 10 percent of her friends who suddenly view her not as a pal in need of support, but as a predatory female on the prowl, just aching to steal their husbands. Indeed, my friend found that while her invitations dried up, her ex was still very much on everyone’s guest list. While it’s not academia’s job to put a rosy spin on things, perhaps scientists might be better served studying the positive once in a while. Like maybe research how people who are kinder and more generous to their partner get laid more often. Oh wait, looks like someone just did that!