When it comes to happiness, what's love got to do with it?

July 23, 2020

Science Daily/Michigan State University

How accurate was William Shakespeare when he said, "'Tis better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all"? Researchers from Michigan State University conducted one of the first studies of its kind to quantify the happiness of married, formerly married and single people at the end of their lives to find out just how much love and marriage played into overall well-being.

The study -- published in the Journal of Positive Psychology -- examined the relationship histories of 7,532 people followed from ages 18 to 60 to determine who reported to be happiest at the end of their lives.

"People often think that they need to be married to be happy, so we asked the questions, 'Do people need to be in a relationship to be happy? Does living single your whole life translate to unhappiness? What about if you were married at some point but it didn't work out?,'" said William Chopik, MSU assistant professor of psychology and co-author of the paper. "Turns out, staking your happiness on being married isn't a sure bet."

Chopik and Mariah Purol, MSU psychology master's student and co-author, found that participants fell into one of three groups: 79% were consistently married, spending the majority of their lives in one marriage; 8% were consistently single, or, people who spent most of their lives unmarried; and 13% had varied histories, or, a history of moving in and out of relationships, divorce, remarrying or becoming widowed. The researchers then asked participants to rate overall happiness when they were older adults and compared it with the group into which they fell.

"We were surprised to find that lifelong singles and those who had varied relationship histories didn't differ in how happy they were," said Purol. "This suggests that those who have 'loved and lost' are just as happy towards the end of life than those who 'never loved at all.'"

While married people showed a slight uptick in happiness, Purol said the margin was not substantial -- nor what many may expect. If the consistently married group answered a 4 out of 5 on how happy they were, consistently single people answered a 3.82 and those with varied history answered a 3.7.

"When it comes to happiness, whether someone is in a relationship or not is rarely the whole story," Chopik said. "People can certainly be in unhappy relationships, and single people derive enjoyment from all sorts of other parts of their lives, like their friendships, hobbies and work. In retrospect, if the goal is to find happiness, it seems a little silly that people put so much stock in being partnered."

If someone longs for a lifelong partner to start a family and build a happy life together, Chopik and Purol's research suggests that if that individual isn't completely happy to begin with, getting married won't likely dramatically change it all.

"It seems like it may be less about the marriage and more about the mindset," Purol said. "If you can find happiness and fulfillment as a single person, you'll likely hold onto that happiness -- whether there's a ring on your finger or not."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/07/200723115833.htm

Strained family relations and worsening of chronic health conditions

November 7, 2019

Science Daily/American Psychological Association

Strained relationships with parents, siblings or extended family members may be more harmful to people's health than a troubled relationship with a significant other, according to a study published by the American Psychological Association.

"We found that family emotional climate had a big effect on overall health, including the development or worsening of chronic conditions such as stroke and headaches over the 20-year span of midlife," said Sarah B. Woods, PhD, assistant professor of family and community medicine at UT Southwestern Medical Center and lead author of the study. "Contrary to previous research, which found that intimate relationships had a large effect on physical health, we did not get the same results."

The study was published in the Journal of Family Psychology.

"Most often, researchers focus on romantic relationships, especially marriage, presuming they likely have more of a powerful effect on heath," Woods said. "Given changes in how Americans are partnering, waiting longer to marry, if at all, and the lengthier, and possibly more emotion-laden trajectories of family-of-origin relationships, we wanted to compare the strength of associations between family and intimate partners and health over time."

The researchers used data from 2,802 participants in the Midlife Development in the U.S. survey that included a nationally representative sample of adults from 1995 to 2014. Three rounds of data were collected -- in 1995 to 1996, 2004 to 2006 and 2013 to 2014. The average participant was 45 years old during the first round.

The survey asked questions about family strain (e.g., "Not including your spouse or partner, how often do members of your family criticize you?") and family support (e.g., "How much can you rely on [your family] for help if you have a serious problem?") as well as intimate partner strain (e.g., "How often does your spouse or partner argue with you?") and support (e.g., "How much does your spouse or partner appreciate you?")

Health was measured using participants' total number of chronic conditions, such as stroke, headaches and stomach trouble, experienced in the 12 months prior to each of the three data collection times.

Participants also rated their overall health from excellent to poor at each round.

The researchers found that greater family relationship strain was associated with a greater number of chronic conditions and worse health appraisal 10 years later, during the second and third rounds of data collection.

"Comparatively, we found that greater family support during the second round of data collection in 2004 to 2006 was associated with better health appraisal 10 years later," said Jacob B. Priest, PhD, assistant professor of education at the University of Iowa and co-author of the study.

There were no significant effects of intimate partner relationships on health outcomes.

"We were honestly stunned that there were zero associations between intimate partner emotional climate and later health," Woods said.

She and her co-authors theorize that the lack of significant associations between intimate partner relationships and later health could be because those relationships can break up, whereas people are more likely to have longer associations with family members who aren't a spouse.

"The vast majority of the people in the study had living parents or siblings and thus, their relationship with a spouse or intimate partner was less likely to be as long as that of their family members," said Patricia N.E. Roberson, PhD, assistant professor of nursing of the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and co-author of the study. "Therefore, the emotional intensity of these relationships may be greater, so much so that people experience more of an effect on their health and well-being."

Woods and her colleagues said their findings show why physical and mental health care providers should consider family relationships when assessing and treating patients.

"For adults who already have a chronic condition, a negative family emotional climate may increase their poor health and conversely, supportive family members may help improve their health outcomes," Woods said. "This is why I encourage patients to bring supportive family members with them to their doctors' visits and to create an open dialogue about their health conditions and concerns. Having that support definitely has a significant effect on quality of life and well-being."

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2019/11/191107092606.htm