Does Marriage Protect Adults from Unhappiness?
Married people just might be happier than their single counterparts, says a new study published online in the Journal of Research in Personality. The study finds that while getting hitched doesn't automatically make people happier, it does offer some protection against the "normal" happiness decline that happens with adulthood.
Either way, the study was a bit dark. It sounds like we're all in for an inevitable downturn in happiness as we get older, and while marriage can keep our happiness levels stable in the long run, it won't really improve them. Harsh.
As an engaged girl about to dive headfirst into marriage (my wedding is in two months!), I'm a bit uncomfortable with the whole "us" (read: married people) vs. "them" thing to begin with. I feel like I'm about to join the married cult where we all laugh at the poor, single people from our lofty perch while sipping on overflowing cups of Stable Levels of Happiness. Someone slap me if I ever become that.
It's probably just my nerves talking, since they usually don't shut up now that my wedding day is fast approaching. I can't help but take everything personally, from shows like "Bridezilla" (I hate those annoying, ridiculous women who give brides a bad rap) to marriage studies. When it comes down to it, I'd like to think that a happy person creates a happy life for themselves. So if a happy person wants marriage, they get it. But there is no one recipe for happiness.
What do you think - does marriage spell happiness?
Written by Mona Lisa Macalino for YourTango.com.
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