Fracture resistance (J-R) curves, which are used for elastic-plastic fracture mechanics analyses, decreased under tension-compression loading condition. This phenomenon was proved by several former researches, but the causes have not been clear yet. The objective of this paper is to investigate the cause of this phenomenon. On the basis of fracture resistance curve test results, strain hardening hypothesis, stress redistribution hypothesis and crack opening hypothesis were built. In this study, hardness tests, Automated Ball Indentation(ABI) tests, theoretical stress field analyses, and crack opening analyses were performed to prove the hypotheses. From this study, strain-hardening of material, generation of tensile residual stress at crack tip, and crack opening effects are proved as the causes of the decrease hypothesis.