The Secret To A Long Marriage Is Drinking Together
A lot has been said about how to build and maintain a long-lasting relationship. You need to be a good listener, be sensitive, compromise, and so on. Apparently, you don’t need any of that to ensure you and your significant other stay together.
Science says all you need is alcohol.
A study found that couples who drink together, stay longer together
It was published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Series , and it found that couples over the age of 50 who have similar drinking habits have better marriages than those where only one of them drinks.
What's curious is that this effect is stronger on wives
The study claims that "wives who reported drinking alcohol reported decreased negative marital quality over time when husbands also reported drinking and increased negative marital quality over time when husbands reported not drinking”
In other words, if the wife drinks, she's way happier if her husband also drinks, and is way unhappier if her husband does not.
Does this mean we should actually get wasted as a couple?
Well, not really.
Dr. Birditt said that drinking is becoming a problem among older people, “especially among baby boomers, who seem more accepting of alcohol use.”
Dr. Fred Blow of the University of Michigan, who was not part of the study but had insights on it, said that, “Problem drinkers are a whole different kettle of fish. Serious heavy drinkers have disruptive relationships with people, particularly their partners. That’s an important issue that should be looked at going forward.”
It may not be about how often you drink, both of you just have to like drinking
According to Reuters , researchers surveyed 2,767 couples who have been together for an average of 33 years, two-thirds of which were on their first marriage. Participants told the researchers how frequently they drink, and then they were asked if they ever found their spouse annoying, critical, and so on.
Dr. Kira Birditt of the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, who studies relationships across adulthood, says “The study shows that it’s not about how much they’re drinking, it’s about whether they drink at all. ”
She adds, “We’re not sure why this is happening, but it could be that couples that do more leisure time activities together have better marital quality.”
That's a key distinction. The fact that your drink might just be a signal that you like to do other fun things with your spouse, which in turn increases both your happiness.