Sometimes this Grandma holds on to a post idea about a study for years. Sometimes, the post idea about a study eventually seems unimportant and goes away. Sometimes, the post idea about a study remains but the timing seems off. Sometimes, this Grandma just says one study is not enough and I must wait for a second study. Sometimes the second study never comes.
But, sometimes the wait just pays off! The second study proving “Happy Wife, Happy Life” is here.
I wondered about the origin of “Happy Wife, Happy Life” and there is a comedian that this Grandma never heard of that claims to be the author. See his website: There is a blogger to tried to find the origin beyond this comedian and could not, according to a blurb on google.
I have to admit that I have tried hard over the years to convince grandpa that “Happy Wife, Happy Life” is the best path to always follow. Although I saved the articles about it, I could never show Grandpa the one study in 2014 that confirmed “Happy Wife, Happy Life.” I just wanted two studies to prove it.
Now, this Grandma does not just have one study to prove it. Now, this Grandma has two recent separate studies to prove that “Happy Wife, Happy Life” is to Grandpa’s benefit in every way.
In October 2014, there was a study published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, “Happy Marriage, Happy Life? Marital Quality and Subjective Well-being in Later Life,” by Deborah Carr, Vicki A. Freedman, Jennifer C. Cornman. This Grandma is glad there was at least one male researcher. The full study on marital quality and happiness among older adults can be found at this link.
The study found that the happier the wife is, the happier the husband is. One of the researchers, Deborah Carr said it best as reported in the Rutgers Today Magazine.
“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.”
Husbands in this study definitely rated marriage satisfaction slightly higher than their wives.
Deborah Carr continues in the article:
“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.
What made this 2014 study so important was that it examined those of longer years, examined the personal feelings of both husbands and wives to determine how their marital satisfaction influenced their psychological well-being. In this study, at least one of the partners was 60 or older and, on average, the couple was married for nearly forty years.
Definitely, the “take away” from the 2014 study is “Happy Wife, Happy Life.”
Now fast forward to the “Happy Wife, Happy Life” 2015 study, now hitting the news. The second study was published in the August 2015 issue of American Journal for Public Health, “Life-Course Partnership Status and Biomarkers in Midlife: Evidence From the 1958 British Birth Cohort,” by George B. Ploubidis, PhD, Richard J. Silverwood, PhD, Bianca DeStavola, PhD, and Emily Grundy, PhD.
George B. Ploubidis is with the Centre for Longitudinal Studies, UCL – Institute of Education, University College London, London, UK. Richard J. Silverwood and Bianca DeStavola are with the Centre for Statistical Methodology, Department of Medical Statistics, Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, London. Emily Grundy is with the Department of Social Policy, London School of Economics and Political Science, London.
Are you impressed yet? Find the actual study.
The researchers studied “stability as well as transitions in partnership status over a 21-year period (ages 23–44 years) and used this to investigate the effects that 21-year trajectories of partnership status have on a wide range of biomarkers in midlife. [Their] objective was to investigate the association of different trajectories of partnership status over the life course and objectively measured health indicators in midlife.”
Therefore, the participants in this second study were younger and together almost half the time of the participants in the first study.
The study found that married men in are healthier than unmarried men. “Never marrying or cohabiting was negatively associated with health in midlife for both genders, but the effect was more pronounced in men. Women who had married in their late 20s or early 30s and remained married had the best health in midlife. Men and women in cohabiting unions had midlife health outcomes similar to those in formal marriages.”
Be careful with the 2016 newspaper articles. They tend to mix the 2014 and 2015 studies, without differentiating between the two.
But, this Grandma is overjoyed with both studies. I guess that the bottom line is the best “take-away” and newest saying to use is
“HAPPY WIFE, HAPPY LIFE, HEALTHY HUSBAND AND WIFE.”
Joy,
Mema
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