A Wife's Happiness is More Crucial Than Her Husband's For a Long Lasting, Happy Marriage, Finds Study

The general perception is that a successful marriage depends on the happiness of both the husband and wife. But a new Rutgers study states that the more content the wife is in the marriage, the happier the husband feels in the relationship.

While this may seem a little strange, Deborah Carr, a professor in the Department of Sociology, School of Arts and Science, explains that it is extremely simple. She says that may be the case when the wife is happy she starts doing a lot more for her husband. Since she is content with her relationship, she tries to keep her husband happy as well. Her actions itself would be pleasing. "Men tend to be less vocal about their relationships and their level of marital unhappiness might not be translated to their wives," she said.

Another study was conducted by Carr and Vicki Freedman, a research professor at the University of Michigan Institute for Social Research, on the marital quality and happiness among older adults. The study is published in the Journal of Marriage and Family.

This research differs from previous researches as it takes into account the emotional quotient of the couples and how their marital appraisals affect the psychological well-being of older adults

For this study, 394 married couples were also a part of a national study that analysed their income, health and disability in 2009. They took into account those who were married for 39 years to determine the factors that held these relationships together for so long.

To zero down on the many factors that influence successful marriages, a questionnaire was provided to the couples that asked them about their relationship, how often they fought, were they complimented by their spouse, did their spouse understand their feelings and other questions. They were also asked to maintain a diary and jot down when they were happiest in the last 24 hours while doing tasks such as shopping, household work and watching television.

The study revealed that on the average, they rated their general life satisfaction as high, and husbands gave higher positive ratings for their marriage than their wives.

"For both spouses being in a better-rated marriage was linked to greater life satisfaction and happiness," Carr said. She also found that irrespective of whether their wives fell sick or not, the happiness level of the husband was unhampered, but the wives, on the other hand, were less happy if their husbands fell ill.

The study further reveals that a sick husband depends on the wife most often, says Carr, but the wife, who does all the caregiving feels stressed at the end. The wife, on the other hand, depends less on the husband and more on the daughter while sick.

Researchers said that the study is important as a healthy marriage also determines the health of the couple as they age together.

Carr explained that the quality of a marriage determines how the couple manage and take decisions about their health in the future and also a happy marriage will help tackle "health-depleting effects of later life stressors."