Psychological tasks associated with divorce: Eat, Pray, Love (2010), An Unmarried Woman (1978), and Kramer vs. Kramer (1979).

The dependency paradox (Feeney) states that independence actually can result from being in a nurturing relationship. Those who divorce often have the opposite notion that independence will occur without a relationship. The movies Eat, Pray, Love, An Unmarried Woman, and Kramer vs. Kramer examine divorce from different angles. The protagonists in all three movies grow through the process of divorce, each achieving a level of autonomy that seemed unattainable within their marriage. This paper aims to explore the concept of divorce in light of the dependency paradox by examining the self-differentiation achieved and the consequences of such independence for both the individual and, in Kramer vs. Kramer, for the child involved.