Drinking habits (alcoholic) seem to be an important factor in forming that mysterious alchemy or mortar that keeps couples together longer and more harmoniously .
At least that is what a study by researchers at the University of Michigan suggests and which has been published in the Journals of Gerontology B: Psychological Sciences .
Drinking couples
In the cited study, it is noted that couples in which both parties drink reported slightly better marriages than couples in which one person drinks and the other does not. In particular, women reported that they felt their relationships had more negative qualities when they drank but they did not .
The important thing is not that the couples drink synchronously (that is, that both are "happy" at the same time), but that one drinks and the other does not drink at all, even at different times.
The study was conducted with 2,767 couples from the Health and Retirement Survey , a survey that has been looking at the aging population in the United States. Most of the couples were married (others lived together) and, on average, had been together for 33 years. Every two years, the researchers sat down with the participants and asked them how often they drank, how much, and how they felt about their partner.
About 45% of the couples reported that they both drank, and these couples tended to be less angry with each other . Couples who reported neither drinking also reported slightly fewer negative traits in their relationships. Less happy with each other were the couples where one couple drinks and the other doesn’t.
Still, the study also doesn’t suggest that couples with mismatched drinking habits are doomed to failure – all the couples in the study had already been together for a long time. It just seems that there is more friction between them . The best option, considering the health consequences, is for both partners not to drink.