Happy wife, happy life? Not anymore -- a new study suggests it’s an attractive wife that leads to a satisfying marriage.
In the study, which was recently published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, psychologist Andrea Meltzer tracked over 450 newlywed couples during the course of four years and posed the question: does a good-looking spouse lead to a more satisfying union?
What Meltzer and her team discovered was that spousal attractiveness does play a major role in marital satisfaction -- but only for men. In other words, men care about looks more than women do.
The authors write, "The significant effect of wives’ attractiveness on husbands’ satisfaction was significantly stronger than the nonsignificant effect of husbands’ attractiveness on wives’ satisfaction, indicating that partner physical attractiveness played a larger role in predicting husbands’ marital satisfaction than it did in predicting wives’ marital satisfaction."
Interestingly, the attractive wives also reported higher levels of satisfaction, all because having a happy hubby made them happier too.
A study conducted in 2008 at the Relationship Institute at UCLA reached a similar finding. Researchers theorized that men who felt they "lucked out" by marrying attractive wives were happier and more likely to care about their wives' needs -- and in turn, the good-looking wives were happier in the relationship as well.
“The husbands seemed to be basically more committed, more invested in pleasing their wives when they felt that they were getting a pretty good deal,” study author Benjamin Karney explained.
Karney said the opposite occurred when the husbands felt they were better looking than their wives, explaining, "They didn’t seem to be quite as motivated to help out their wives when they were more attractive than their wives."
What do you think, do you agree with the "hot wife, better life" theory? Sound off below.
Then, check out the slideshow for more fascinating marriage findings.
My note: I tend to be Switzerland when i comes to this particular study. On the one hand physical attractiveness is a big deal for me in an intimate relationship. My current girlfriend is 5'7 130 lbs, and I'm very much attracted to her. However, in the past I've dated women who are much more curvy, but I was still attracted to them. I'm not sure if it's the culture we live in? Everywhere we go there are pictures of half-naked women, and frankly on college campus' there seems to be very attractive young ladies prancing everywhere. Could this have had/has an influence on my standard during the development of my life? Perhaps. Again, attractiveness is pretty much a necessity for my in an intimate relationship. If I'm not attracted to that person it's going to be really difficult for me to engage in sexual needs, and emotions needs. A few girlfriend's ago, this girlfriend in particular gained a lot of weight over the course of a few years. When i started dating her I was very attracted to her. But for some reason she let herself go, and that influenced me in a lot of ways. I was not only starting to be unattracted to her physically, I was maybe more so unattracted to the fact that her will to stay healthy, her exercising methodology, etc were diminishing fast. This wasn't appealing to me at all physically or mentally, so I began to look at her differently. However, on the other hand, I can, with the upmost respect, agree with people that aren't necessarily fitting the standard model of attractiveness. I respect these plus size women and commend them for showing off their bodies to the world, unashamed. They shouldn't be afraid of who they really are. I would just suggest maybe to start exercising, only from an health standpoint. Furthermore, this study I think shows how men really are in society and how they/we objectify women. After all, this study really only applies to men. So, I'm not really sure if i should be ashamed of myself or not, because honestly, I'm am truly happier when I'm attracted to the person I'm in the relationship with. I tend to agree with the theory from a personal standpoint, but in practice its seems morally wrong and demeaning because it disrespects women's autonomy.
My note: I tend to be Switzerland when i comes to this particular study. On the one hand physical attractiveness is a big deal for me in an intimate relationship. My current girlfriend is 5'7 130 lbs, and I'm very much attracted to her. However, in the past I've dated women who are much more curvy, but I was still attracted to them. I'm not sure if it's the culture we live in? Everywhere we go there are pictures of half-naked women, and frankly on college campus' there seems to be very attractive young ladies prancing everywhere. Could this have had/has an influence on my standard during the development of my life? Perhaps. Again, attractiveness is pretty much a necessity for my in an intimate relationship. If I'm not attracted to that person it's going to be really difficult for me to engage in sexual needs, and emotions needs. A few girlfriend's ago, this girlfriend in particular gained a lot of weight over the course of a few years. When i started dating her I was very attracted to her. But for some reason she let herself go, and that influenced me in a lot of ways. I was not only starting to be unattracted to her physically, I was maybe more so unattracted to the fact that her will to stay healthy, her exercising methodology, etc were diminishing fast. This wasn't appealing to me at all physically or mentally, so I began to look at her differently. However, on the other hand, I can, with the upmost respect, agree with people that aren't necessarily fitting the standard model of attractiveness. I respect these plus size women and commend them for showing off their bodies to the world, unashamed. They shouldn't be afraid of who they really are. I would just suggest maybe to start exercising, only from an health standpoint. Furthermore, this study I think shows how men really are in society and how they/we objectify women. After all, this study really only applies to men. So, I'm not really sure if i should be ashamed of myself or not, because honestly, I'm am truly happier when I'm attracted to the person I'm in the relationship with. I tend to agree with the theory from a personal standpoint, but in practice its seems morally wrong and demeaning because it disrespects women's autonomy.
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