A recent study from America has found an apparent link between the success of a marriage and the husband’s health and personality.
Researchers at the University of Chicago found that long-term marriages or cohabiting relationships are most successful when the male partner has good health and an “agreeable” personality. Interestingly, there doesn’t appear to be a similar link between the health and personality of the wife.
“Wives report more conflict if their husband is in poor health,” explained the study’s lead author, James Iveniuk, PhD candidate in the Department of Sociology. “If the wife is in poor health, there doesn’t seem to be any difference in terms of the quality of the marriage for the husband.”
According to co-author Linda J. Waite, it’s possible to summarise the study’s measurement of marital conflict as, “How much does your spouse bother you?” The disputes that arise do not usually involve any violence, but are more often the result of criticism, being overly demanding or generally getting on the other person’s nerves.
The researchers said that the gender differences they discovered may change over time as future couples may take up less typical gender roles within the relationship.
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