Science Reveals 12 Characteristics of the Happiest Couples
7. Comprised of a lovely lady and a not-as-lovely man
Levels of attractiveness within couples has long been the subject of debate (not to mention song lyrics). According to a study in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, when husbands view their wives as the more attractive of the pair, not only are they more satisfied in the relationship, but the wives are, too. The opposite was not true–when husbands thought they were better-looking, they weren’t as happy.
8. Are best friends
The National Bureau of Economic Research did a study demonstrating that marriage, on the whole, leads to increased levels of happiness (they controlled for premarital happiness).
Perhaps more telling was the finding that people who consider their spouse to be their best friend are almost twice as satisfied in their marriages as other people.
“What immediately intrigued me about the results was to rethink marriage as a whole,” researcher John Helliwell said. “Maybe what is really important is friendship, and to never forget that in the push and pull of daily life.”
9. And have a lot of friends in common
In 2013, Facebook released a report that analyzed 1.3M of its users, looking at, among other things, relationships. The conclusion? Couples with overlapping social networks tended to be less likely to break up–especially when that closeness included “social dispersion,” or the introduction of one person’s sphere to the other, and vice versa.
In other words, the best-case scenario is when each person has their own circle, but the two also overlap.
