Structural Modeling of Factors Affecting Women’s Psychological Empowerment After Divorce Using ISM and MICMAC

HRMARS - Women’s psychological empowerment after divorce is a complex and dynamic process shaped by multiple interrelated psychological, social, and structural factors, yet existing research has largely examined these influences in isolation. This study aims to identify the key factors influencing women’s psychological empowerment after divorce and to examine how these factors are structurally interrelated within a hierarchical system using an integrated Interpretive Structural Modeling (ISM) and MICMAC approach. Specifically, the study seeks to determine the hierarchical relationships among empowerment-related factors and to classify these factors as primary drivers, linkage mechanisms, or dependent outcomes based on their driving and dependence power. A qualitative structural modeling design was employed, in which fifteen factors were identified through a systematic literature review and subsequently validated by an expert panel comprising professionals in counseling, social work, and family-related disciplines. Expert judgments were elicited using the Nominal Group Technique (NGT) to construct the Structural Self-Interaction Matrix, followed by reachability analysis, level partitioning, and the development of an ISM-based hierarchical digraph. The findings reveal a multi-layered empowerment system in which coping strategies, social support, self-compassion, passage of time, financial empowerment, and education and employment emerge as dominant driving factors that initiate and sustain empowerment processes. Several psychosocial and contextual variables function as linkage mechanisms, mediating reciprocal influences across the system, while outcome-oriented factors such as attachment-related adjustment, assertiveness, and social isolation are largely dependent on upstream conditions. Overall, this study advances a systems-based understanding of women’s psychological empowerment after divorce and offers critical insights for designing integrated counseling interventions, social support programs, and policy initiatives aimed at fostering sustainable empowerment outcomes.