Have you ever been surprised that one of your favorite couples broke up—and at how bitter the breakup was? Maybe your own relationship ended in a way that was more spiteful than you would have expected. Research studies have found a surprising culprit behind many bad relationship outcomes: destiny beliefs. When you believe in relationship destiny, you "place heavy emphasis on evaluating whether a relationship was meant to be" (Knee et al., 2001).

Many studies have shown that destiny beliefs can poison a romantic relationship. When you and your partner hit a rough patch, you’re significantly more likely to break up if you hold strong destiny beliefs.

Other research has shown that couples who believe in relationship destiny are more likely to become hostile toward their partners when the relationship doesn’t meet their expectations, which can lead to acrimonious breakups. Destiny beliefs also make partners less willing to forgive each other when they’re feeling insecure in the relationship, as well as more likely to ghost.

Different explanations might account for the many downsides of destiny beliefs:

Despite the problems that come with destiny beliefs, it’s easy to understand wanting to believe you were meant to be with your partner,........

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