Husbands’ Health and Attitude Determines the Quality of Marriage: Study

A husband's poor physical and mental health leads to more conflict in later marital life , reports a study.

James Iveniuk, study author and researcher at department of Sociology in the University of Chicago said in a news release, "Wives report more conflict if their husband is in poor health. If the wife is in poor health, there doesn't seem to be any difference in terms of the quality of the marriage for the husband."

It was found that personality traits like openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness and anxiety were different in men and women due to varied expectation from long and stable relationships. Wives whose husbands had high levels of positivity or openness's to accept things had less differences and dissatisfaction in their marriage. While, wives' high positivity levels rarely impact the quality of martial relation.

Researchers used data from a national survey of nearly 953 heterosexual couples who were married or lived together to see how a spouse's health and demeanor determines the quality of married life.  Older couples aged between 63 and 90 years who were in a relationship for more than 39 years were interviewed to know how they described themselves and the traits of their spouse. The experts then measured the levels of conflict between couples by noting the extent to which the subjects were bothered by their spouse's health issues, how often they criticized each other or had too many demands.

The study also noted wives of men who had poor physical and mental health were more depressed and often complained about the quality of their marriage. The researchers believe husbands' health issues, attitudes and mental conditions can add burden and lead to stress and depression among care-giving wives who will eventually be dissatisfied with their marriage.

The study also pointed that men are more financially comfortable and able to resist demands and negotiations from their wives who suffer from poor health or exhibit negative traits. They are able to withstand emotional demands and conflict better in the marriage hence, they reported less martial conflict compared to women.

Linda J. Waite, co-author of the study and professor of Urban Sociology at the University of Chicago  said, " Several previous studies have been about the implications of marital status on health. This research allows us to examine individual marriages and not 'married people.' We have the reports on the quality of the marriage from each person, about their own personality and their own health."

The research is published in the journal Marriage and Family.