married people are not happier than single people | marriage counseling news
The so called “research” about marriage and happiness is based on a lot of things that have little to do with happiness.
Married people tend to have more money and more health than single people. Hmmm.
Diehard romantics say you can’t put a price on love, but a pair of European economists disagrees. In 2002, the two men calculated the monetary worth of marriage at $100,000 per year [source:Financial Times].
Despite the potential payoff, people in the United States are putting off marriage later in life than ever before. In correlation with the rising life expectancy, men and women are giving themselves more time before exchanging vows. The average age for an American woman to get hitched rose from 20.8 to 25.3 from 1970 to 2003 [source: U.S. Census Bureau]. Additionally, more adults are living the single life, thanks in large part to the higher divorce rate. According to U.S. Census data, 90 percent more single-person households existed in 2005 than in 1970 [source: Beckwith].
Over the past 30 years, marriage has become more of a social choice than a necessity, but all it takes is a few episodes of “Sex and the City” to see that Western culture still favors cohabitation. Humans’ animal instincts are wired for mating in one way or another. Moreover, a pervasive idea exists that discovering a soul mate brings joy and makes life worth living. Perhaps we aren’t far off the mark; studies have shown that married people tend to earn more money and live longer than singles. Marriage also appears to promote better health. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that husbands and wives are less likely to smoke or drink heavily, experience frequent headaches and suffer from psychological problems than people who aren’t married
But betting on marriage to bring you happiness may be a risky gamble. After all, the odds of holding on to that perfect partner forever have been whittled down to a coin flip — about 48 percent of marriages end in divorce [source: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]. Nevertheless, psychologists have pointed to marriage as the single most reliable happiness indicator. Read the full misleading article:
All of this misses the point. Happiness in marriage has nothing to do with circumstances or money or health. Watch this presentation and learn the truth.
Dr. Max Vogt is known as one
of America's top psychologists and
marriage counselors. His bestselling books, articles and programs have
been helping people have happy, successful marriages for over 25 years.
He considers his newest work,
Comments on this entry are closed.