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Who doesn’t wish to be happy? We all do, right? And if you’ve just been married, you’ll be showered with wishes for a happy married life. We’ve all known long enough about the importance of happiness in our lives, in general. But now, Science comes from out of the blue to prove, what we’ve probably known—How a happy spouse can affect your health for good.
According to a recent research published by the American Psychological Association, people with happy spouses are more likely to experience a better health over a period of time (1). Conducted by the Michigan State University, researchers studied the data of approximately 1,981 heterosexual, middle-aged couples who had reported their level of happiness, physical activity, and self-assessed health parameters over a period of six years—from 2006 to 2012. The results showed that couples who had happy spouses were nearly 34 percent more likely to experience good health than those who lived with unhappy spouses. According to William Chopik, the study’s principal investigator, who is also an assistant professor of psychology (Ph.D.), the results of this study gives significant weight to the suggestion of a relationship between health and happiness with that of a unique social link. Which means, simply put, that a happy spouse is directly responsible for enhancing your health greatly than compared to your own efforts to keep yourself healthy.
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Although there were previous studies that suggested a direct relationship between good health and generally happy people, William Chopik wanted to take the research a step further by linking it to a specific relationship or social equation. According to him, there are at least three important reasons why a happy spouse may help enhance your health:
1. A Happy Spouse Will Most Likely Be More Caring And Supportive
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Whenever there are downfalls or challenges in a relationship, the right kind of emotional energy matters a lot. This is exactly what a happy spouse brings to the table. When your spouse is in a happy state of mind, they are able to cope with relationship pressures better. Which means they can easily prove to be caring and supportive towards you as and when the situation demands.
2. A Happy Partner Who Has Healthy Habits Is Bound To Encourage The Same
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If your partner was a health freak before marriage – someone who exercised regularly, ate a balanced, healthy diet, and had healthy sleep routines, chances are that he/she may be happy to encourage the same kind of lifestyle even after marriage. So, it goes without saying that such a positive lifestyle change is bound to impact your health for the good.
3. A Happy Partner Can Make Marriage Seem Easy
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If your partner is in a good state of mind or cheerful most of the times, you’ll not have to put in an extra effort to keep them happy. Because finding contentment comes easily to a happy partner, you are likely to be less stressed about trying not to upset them or cheering them up incessantly.
These reasons apart, it is also important to note that having a cheerful and content atmosphere at home as well as better interpersonal relationships go a long way in keeping a person away from drug dependencies or addictions. Agreed, that staying happy all the time is not practically possible, what with all the lifestyle stressors. But when you are aware that your partner is content and happy in his/her own space, you’d have one less person to worry about than your own self. This puts you in a less stressful position and you may stay away from self-destructive outlets like drugs, alcohol, etc. in order to de-stress yourself. Going by that, a happy wife/husband can definitely make a world of difference to your life – and health too!
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