You know the saying “Happy Wife, Happy Life?” Well it turns out, given new research recently published by the University of Michigan, the saying really should be “the couple that drinks together stays together.” That’s because this new research has uncovered something many people knew all along: married couples where both spouses drink, tend to be much happier couples. Think about that one couple you know that doesn’t, they’re kind of miserable, aren’t they?
Researchers found this result is particularly true when the female in the couple drinks and the male does not. In these cases, women became more and more dissatisfied with the relationship over time when they were the only ones imbibing.
The study examined 2,767 couples who had been together for an average of 33 years and through the study they learned that it wasn’t the amount of drinking that matters, but that both partners drank in the first place – to be fair, the study also found that if the couple were both teetotalers they were happy as well, but where’s the fun in those kind of results?!
As study author Dr. Kira Birditt, who studies relationships across adulthood, told Reuters: “We’re not suggesting that people should drink more or change the way they drink.” In fact, the study authors aren’t even sure why this result rings true in the first place. Their best guess is that couples who tend to do leisure activities together, of which drinking is clearly one, tend to be happier and more satisfied.
No wonder we drink so much at weddings. Cheers to a happy marriage.
