Dividends do not matter much math wise, but psychologically they can.
When dividend investors have exhausted every other attempt at defending dividend investing, their final argument is that focusing on dividends offers a behavioural benefit that allows you to remain invested during market turbulence, therefore it still has value.
The problem with feeling good at the expense of facing reality is that one day there may be a sustained market decline and a long drawn out recovery and you will find that dividend focused shares are not a bond proxy.
This
article on what a bear market feels like, points out that
" In the last crisis in the US the major banks weren’t allowed to pay out dividends for quite some time. "This should give you some pause to consider the danger of assuming historically strong dividend payers are a bond proxy that will provide you with safe income during a down turn.
Deluding yourself into believing dividend stocks are safe is not a benefit, it's a downside.