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from the so-I-didn't-have-to-get-married??? dept.
a new study published in AJPH indicates that adults who are cohabitating have midlife health outcomes that are similar to adults in formal marriages. So in terms of the benefits specific to marriage, we can probably strike "longer, healthier life" from the list.
The study in question used 10,000 subjects from the British national Child Development Study, a birth cohort study that includes all people born in Britain during one week in March 1958. Participants were able to select their partnership status as married, cohabitating, or single. Health was measured using blood and inflammatory biomarkers, as well as respiratory capacity. The researchers controlled for previous socioeconomic status, previous health status, educational attainment, income, employment, and other demographic variables.
The study's results varied by gender. Among men, those who had never married/cohabitated displayed poorer overall health than men who were married during the observation period. By contrast, not marrying or cohabitating had less of a detrimental effect on women than on men. For women, the timing of the marriage mattered. Those who were married in their late 20s or early 30s had the overall best health, beating out both women who had married in their early 20s and women were never married/cohabitating.
Does co-habitating with cats or dogs count?
(Score: 3, Insightful) by Grishnakh on Thursday August 13 2015, @05:10PM
My take on it is that it might be worth it to study what those 20% successful marriages do and emulate that.
Oh please. That's like telling poor people to go look at lottery winners and emulate them so they can get out of poverty.
Face it, some people just get lucky and find someone who works well for them, and on top of that, they're both people who work well together in a relationship. Most people just aren't that lucky, to both be a good relationship partner, and to also find someone else who is also a good relationship partner, and who is also a good partner *for them*. Add to that that people do better when they find the right person early on, so they adapt to each other; after you get older, you get more set in your ways so it becomes impossible to find someone suitable.
So, if you find the right person when you're 21, that's great. If you pass 25 and you haven't found him/her, it's very unlikely you will.
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Thursday August 13 2015, @05:20PM
Oh please. That's like telling poor people to go look at lottery winners and emulate them so they can get out of poverty.
Right, or studying people who live longer and are healthier and emulating their diet and exercise regimen. Face it, if you aren't born with good genes, you're not going to be healthy, so pass me another Big Mac.
Fact is, Dr. Willard Harley has actually studied the 20% of marriages that go well and has distilled the results into a regimen that does lead to a good marriage for 100% of couples that follow it. Getting them to follow it is sometimes quite a trick, though.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday August 14 2015, @02:26AM
The biggest problem I have is finding a partner with whom to practice it. :(
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Friday August 14 2015, @03:44PM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by Grishnakh on Saturday August 15 2015, @01:43AM
I'll bet he doesn't have any good information on where to actually meet these prospective partners so you can show them your "value proposition". As a nerd/engineer, that's the biggest problem I've had. There just aren't any women in places I frequent (school, work, etc.).
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Saturday August 15 2015, @02:12AM
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by jdavidb on Saturday August 15 2015, @02:18AM
In all seriousness I've heard him make a lot of recommendations on that front including online, Facebook, traditional newspaper personals, speed dating, taking a community college course, moving to a bigger city with more single people, getting into new hobbies with clubs or associations, and probably others I can't remember. He and his wife actually used to run a dating service - I'm not sure when that was but I think it was after he retired from practice and before he started his present endeavors. What they basically did in the service was teach men how to better meet a woman's typical emotional needs and teach women how to better meet a man's typical emotional needs. The clients typically found someone, but not someone from the service, because in learning how to meet those emotional needs they became much more attractive to someone of the opposite sex.
You could always hunt him down online and ask his current recommendations. He's out there and does answer questions.
ⓋⒶ☮✝🕊 Secession is the right of all sentient beings
(Score: 2) by naubol on Friday August 14 2015, @01:22PM
20% of people win the lottery?