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As Married Couples Age, Humor Replaces Bickering

posted by martyb on Tuesday December 04 2018, @08:04PM   Printer-friendly
from the selection-bias? dept.

Phoenix666 writes:

Hang in There. As Couples Age, Humor Replaces Bickering:

Honeymoon long over? Hang in there. A new University of California, Berkeley, study shows those prickly disagreements that can mark the early and middle years of marriage mellow with age as conflicts give way to humor and acceptance.

Researchers analyzed videotaped conversations between 87 middle-aged and older husbands and wives who had been married for 15 to 35 years, and tracked their emotional interactions over the course of 13 years. They found that as couples aged, they showed more humor and tenderness towards another.

Overall, the findings, just published in the journal Emotion, showed an increase in such positive behaviors as humor and affection and a decrease in negative behaviors such as defensiveness and criticism. The results challenge long-held theories that emotions flatten or deteriorate in old age and point instead to an emotionally positive trajectory for long-term married couples.

Journal Reference:
Alice Verstaen, Claudia M. Haase, Sandy J. Lwi, Robert W. Levenson. Age-related changes in emotional behavior: Evidence from a 13-year longitudinal study of long-term married couples.. Emotion, 2018; DOI: 10.1037/emo0000551

A sense of humor is key.

Original Submission

 
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  • (Score: 5, Interesting) by Aurean on Tuesday December 04 2018, @10:06PM (4 children)

    by Aurean (4924) on Tuesday December 04 2018, @10:06PM (#769786)

    Consider that those who have been married that long have remained together for a reason. - one of those reasons being that they can deal with conflict with affection and humor.
    The results may say more about what makes for long lasting relationships than how relationships change with age.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @10:22PM (3 children)

    by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday December 04 2018, @10:22PM (#769807)

    Beaten by a Dutch uncle!

    • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday December 05 2018, @12:46AM (2 children)

      by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday December 05 2018, @12:46AM (#769878) Journal

      Aaaand, Bob's your uncle!

      --
      --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---

      • (Score: 2) by AthanasiusKircher on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:04AM (1 child)

        by AthanasiusKircher (5291) on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:04AM (#769907) Journal

        Actually, he's my brother-in-law. How do you know him?

        • (Score: 2) by Gaaark on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:49AM

          by Gaaark (41) on Wednesday December 05 2018, @02:49AM (#769921) Journal

          Everyone knows Bob... I don't know Jack, though. ;)

          --
          --- Please remind me if I haven't been civil to you: I'm channeling MDC. ---Gaaark 2.0 ---