What's the secret to a long-lasting and a happy marriage? Based on a new study, it's a happy wife.
The Rutgers University website uploaded a statement last September 12, 2014, Friday, about a new study that correlates marital quality and health among older adults. Robin Lally wrote the article.
A new study led by assistant professor Deborah Carr of Rutgers University and research professor Vicki Freedman of University of Michigan Institute for Social Research revealed that the wife's contentment is more important than the husband's if the couple wants to keep their marriage in the long term. When the wife is happy, then the husband is also happy regardless of what he truly thinks and feels about their union.
The study that was published in Journal of Marriage and Family involved almost 400 couples chosen based on their 2009 reports on three factors, which included health and income. Most of them have been married for more than 35 years.
The subjects then answered a questionnaire that aimed to measure their marital quality. They also kept tabs of their activities within the next 24 hours through a diary.
The results suggested that while couples scored their marital quality quite high, the husbands gave theirs an even higher score. According to Carr, the results may reflect the fact that when the wife is happy and contented with her relationship, she is ready and willing to do more for the marriage, especially for her husband.
Their study can have a huge impact on improving the quality of marriage and life of the couples, particularly when they already start to age. This can help eliminate big stressors and assist couples in making major life decisions more effectively and comfortably.
An 11-year study conducted by the University of Wisconsin-Madison research team and participated by more than 100 couples revealed that marital stress increases depression risk. The results were published in Journal of Pscyhophysiology last April 2014.
