I'm not sure you understand what happens when you get fired... rent comes due and you can't pay it. That car repair you were hoping to have enough money to take care of this month, isn't going to happen - and is only going to get worse/more expensive - while you are using your car EVEN MORE than usual to get around to interviews. Food isn't going into the fridge for at least several weeks while you are out of work, and you are reduced to eating those weird canned goods in the back of the cabinet. And, while all this stress is piling up, you need to be all sunshine and rainbows and positivity in your interviews, IF you can even get any interviews. So yeah.... suddenly having the central pillar of your life yanked out from under you DOES hurt, and causes panic almost instantly. So no, there is no calculation of relationship status or any of that bullshit. You go straight into panic mode. Self defense. Retaliation. The psychological process (and damage) is well known.