Divorce porn

You're not happy in your relationship, but you don't want to break up.

The cure? Watch "Eat Pray Love" or buy a tabloid detailing the newest updates on Tiger Woods' split.

Welcome to the world of divorce porn.

A recent NY Times article details the phenomenon. It suggests that the divorce rate is plummeting, but a public fascination with divorce is on the rise.

The conclusion? We're indulging in other people's divorce stories to satiate our own urge to split. An excerpt:

“It’s entirely possible that people can look at all those stories and in some emotional way let off steam,” said Mr. Hackett of People. “One of the premises of ‘Mad Men’ is that the behavior on the show is something of a safety valve. We live through these folks so we don’t have to live that way ourselves.”

The idea's interesting, but I think it only goes so far. If you're having petty disagreements, the relationship challenges portrayed on a show like "Mad Men" could temporarily curb your frustrations.

But once you reach a certain level of relationship dissatisfaction, pop culture's divorces will likely fuel your fire rather than extinguish it.

Right?