A Wife’s Happiness Is More Crucial than Her Husband’s in Keeping Marriage on Track, Rutgers Study Finds

[bonnie]

RESEARCH NEWS

A Wife’s Happiness Is More Crucial than Her Husband’s in Keeping Marriage on Track, Rutgers Study Finds

Research offers insight into link between marital quality and well-being later in life

Friday, September 12, 2014

By Robin Lally

When it comes to a happy marriage, a new Rutgers study finds that the more content the wife is with the long-term union, the happier the husband is with his life no matter how he feels about their nuptials.

 

 

A new Rutgers study finds that a happy wife means a happy life.

 

“I think it comes down to the fact that when a wife is satisfied with the marriage she tends to do a lot more for her husband, which has a positive effect on his life,” said Deborah Carr, a professor in the Department of Sociology, School of Arts and Science. ”Men tend to be less vocal about their relationships and their level of marital unhappiness might not be translated to their wives.”

 

Carr and Vicki Freedman, a research professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, co-authored a research study published in the October issue of the Journal of Marriage and Family on marital quality and happiness among older adults.

The study, done by the two Big Ten universities, differs from previous research, according to Carr, because it examines the personal feelings of both spouses to determine how these marital appraisals influence the psychological well-being of older adults. Researchers analyzed data of 394 couples who were part of a national study of income, health and disability in 2009.  At least one of the spouses was 60 or older and, on average, couples were married for 39 years.

In order to assess marital quality, those involved in the study were asked several questions, such as whether their spouse appreciates them, argues with them, understands their feelings or gets on their nerves. They were also asked to keep detailed diaries about how happy they were in the previous 24 hours doing selected activities like shopping, doing household chores and watching television.

Those involved in the study, on average, rated their general life satisfaction high, typically five out of six points – with husbands rating their marriage slightly more positive than their wives.

“For both spouses being in a better-rated marriage was linked to greater life satisfaction and happiness,” Carr said.

Still, she said, the study also found that while wives became less happy if their spouses became ill, the husbands’ happiness level didn’t change or reflect the same outcome if their wives got sick.

“We know that when a partner is sick it is the wife that often does the caregiving which can be a stressful experience,” said Carr. “But often when a women gets sick it is not her husband she relies on but her daughter.”

The study is important, the researchers said, because the quality of a marriage can affect the health and well-being of older individuals as they continue to age.

“The quality of a marriage is important because it provides a buffer against the health-depleting effects of later life stressors and helps couples manage difficult decisions regarding health and medical decision making,” Carr said.

 

 

 

[joeb]

What?  Someone had to do an academic study to figure this out?  A contented wife is a happy wife.  And a happy wife is easy to live with.  The same goes for the husband.  There's good reason for the Bible to tell us to be content wherever we find ourselves.  No one knows human nature better than our Creator.

[pierrepaul]

What?  Someone had to do an academic study to figure this out?

 

Sometimes an academic study confirms so-called common wisdom, sometimes academic study reveals such common wisdom to be utter nonsense. If the study confirms common wisdom, the researchers will still attempt to publish their results.

[joeb]

Sometimes an academic study confirms so-called common wisdom, sometimes academic study reveals such common wisdom to be utter nonsense. If the study confirms common wisdom, the researchers will still attempt to publish their results.

I'd have to say that the wisdom from the Bible is always authoritative.  If science conflicts with it, I'll take the Bible every time.  

 

My questions were meant more tongue-in-cheek than anything else, so please don't take them as an attack on you.  

[joeb]

I found the following joke, with a couple of changes, in the Reader's Digest, and thought it was apropos for this thread.

 

 

A man and a woman had been married for more than 60 years. They had shared everything. They had kept no secrets from each other except that the little old woman had a shoe box in the top of her closet that she had cautioned her husband never to open or ask her about.

For all of these years, he had never thought about the box, but one day the little old woman got very sick and the doctor said she would not recover. In trying to sort out their affairs, the little old man took down the shoe box and took it to his wife's bedside.

She agreed that it was time that he should know what was in the box. When he opened it, he found two crocheted dolls and a stack of money totaling $95,000. He asked her about the contents.

"When we were to be married," she said, "my grandmother told me the secret of a happy marriage was to never argue. She told me that if I ever got angry with you, I should just keep quiet and crochet a doll."

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

I don't get it.  Where did the $95,000 come from?  

[joeb]

I don't get it.  Where did the $95,000 come from?  

From selling all the dolls she made over the years....  

[rudywoofs (Pam)]

OOOHHHH!!!  LOL  

[LynnDel]

I think the men forget to eat when the wife isn't around to set the meal in front of them. That can't be good for longevity.

[joeb]

I think the men forget to eat when the wife isn't around to set the meal in front of them. That can't be good fo longevity.

I like it, LynnDel.  That is funny.  

 

I guess it's a good thing that I like to cook as I'm so absentminded I'd forget to eat my wife's cooking....