The recent separation of Arnold Schwarzenegger and Maria Shriver after 25 years of marriage may come as a surprise to some, and not so much to others. It would be mere conjecture to say that any one factor caused their separation, but one could certainly understand the difficulties their high-stress, high profile professions may have presented for their marriage.

In Schwarzenegger's explanation of the couple's decision to separate, he mentioned that "great personal and professional transition" largely contributed to the decision. Of course, it didn't help that Arnold recently told Maria of his affair with their long-time housekeeper back in 2002. Still, as some studies have pointed out, certain professions tend to have worse track records than others when it comes to divorce.

Schwarzenegger and Shriver have certainly been going through a big transition in their lives, with Schwarzenegger no longer serving as the governor of California and looking to get back into the entertainment business, and Shriver looking to increase her involvement in advocacy.

According to a study cited by sources, choreographers and dancers have the highest divorce rate, 43.05 percent, of any profession. Bartenders follow at 38.43 percent, and then massage therapists at 38.22 percent. Engineers, clergy, podiatrists and optometrists were among the best occupations for avoiding divorce What isn't clear from the studies is whether the profession encourages divorce or attracts those prone to divorce. Certainly, certain job-related pressures can take their toll on a marriage, particularly when one loses a job, begins a new job, retire from a job, or experiences a significant increase or decrease in workload.

Maria Shriver has, according to sources, has struggled with the decision to divorce Schwarzenegger since 2009. She decided to postpone the divorce after her mother died later that year. More recently, her father died in January shortly after she again began contemplating the divorce decision.

No doubt, Schwarzenegger and Shriver are going through a lot of changes. The couple has not officially decided to divorce yet, however, and is currently living apart with an eye toward working out their relationship, according to sources.

Sources:

Deseret News, "Some career paths bring pressure that leads to divorce," Andrea Whatcott, 18 May 2011.

Newjerseynewsroom.com, "Maria Shriver conflicted over whether to divorce Arnold Schwarzenegger," Bob Holt, 14 May 2011.