The happiest couples have this only thing in common, a new study says
New research revealed that when the two partners have it, the couple as a whole is preferable.
Although relationships oftenhave ups and downsIn the end, you and your partner must be happy more often. There are many components that come into promoting a healthy relationship where both partners are content, such as confidence, respect and commitment. But a new study revealed that there is another essential factor for a happy relationship that you can not have achieved. To find out if you and your partner share one thing that the happier couples have in common, read the following.
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In the happiest couples, both partners have "a high sense of personal power," say the researchers.
To conduct their study, the researchers at Martin Luther University of Halle-Wittenberg (MILU) and the University of Bamberg spoke with 181 straight couples who had been together for an average of eight years and who lived together for at least one month.
Participants, whose age ranged from 18 to 71, answered questions from the investigation of the various aspects of their relationship, including trust,sexual satisfaction, The feeling of oppression and the constraint, and the commitment and willingness to invest in the relationship. The researchers sought to know how real and perceived power influenced each of these aspects of their relationship. "We also calculated theBALANCE OF POWERS to investigate the extent to which the traits of each partner were similar to each other, "one of the authors of the studyRobert Körner, PhD, the Institute of Psychology at MILL, said in a statement.
The researchers found that the "happier couples were those where the two partners reported a high sense of personal power," according to the declaration of researchers. For the purposes of the study, which was published in theSocial and Personal Relations JournalJune 28, "Power is aboutbe able to influence people And successfully resist the attempts of others to influence you. When it comes to your partner, this way feeling that you have the opportunity to pronounce on the issues that are important for you in your relationship.
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Researchers note that both partners may have power without crushing the other.
According to the study, the most essential factor of satisfaction in a relationship when it comes to power is not the balance of power, but rather at the personal level of power each person believes they have. Although it may seem contradictory to what makes a strong relationship, one of the co-authors of the study,Astrid Schütz, PhD, explained that it should not be.
"Maybe this feeling extends to the different aspects of the relationship. While the woman might want to decide where to go on vacation, the husband chooses where to go for dinner, "Schütz, researcher at the University of Bamberg, said in the statement.
To maintain a happy relationship, the two people must have the opportunity to make decisions about their common lives that are important for them; Otherwise, they will not be satisfied. "The feeling of being able to make decisions in a marriage ... has a great influence on the quality of the relationship," said Körner. He added that the subjective feeling of having the power and the ability to act freely in particular had a positive impact on the quality of the relationship.
Sex does not play a big role in the power dynamics more.
Previous studies have shown that power was rarely balanced in relations in the past, with men who often have more influence on decisions than women.
The researchers noticed that the company moved away from traditional gender roles, power dynamics have changed with them. "Relationships have become more equal in particular in Western societies," said Körner.
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But men still have more power in some traditional senses.
Although gender roles have certainly evolved over time, researchers have found that men have even more position power in a traditional sense, as having a higher income and more education. In addition, the need to make decisions tended to be stronger for men.
"With regard to position power, an imbalance has been observed," the authors. "Men reported much more positioner power, operationalized as a school and professional qualification, as well as higher incomes, than women. As for the latter, they added, "women have even less power than men's position, there is still a wage gap between the sexes, and men work in better paid jobs. »
However, researchers stated that these factors did not influence the quality of the relationship. In fact, "many women were more satisfied with the relationship when the partner felt he is responsible, who is in line with traditional gender roles," wrote the authors.
Most happy couples of the study said they felt like themselves and their partner could affirm their preferences on the things that were most important.
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