STUDY: Having a tall husband keeps wives happy

Ladies, if you want a happy marriage, better choose a tall husband.

While having common interests, a sense of humor, and an active sex life contributes to satisfaction in marriage, scientists have found that height difference also plays a big role in a woman’s happiness.

Based on a study carried out by researchers at Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea, it was found that the greater the height difference in a couple, the happier the wife was. However, the effect disappeared as the years went on.

“A greater height difference in a couple was positively related to the wife’s happiness but gradually weakened over time and entirely dissipated by 18 years of marital duration,” said Kitae Sohn, a researcher from Konkuk University.

To arrive at this conclusion, the researchers analyzed data from 7,850 women taken from a long-term population survey.

According to Dr. Sohn, there are many reasons as to why a taller husband was linked to a happier wife. Like people favoring fatty, salty, or sugary foods, women simply prefer tall men without knowing the reason why. Moreover, women’s preference for male height increased women’s reproductive fitness.

Women, Dr. Sohn explains, have evolved to like tall men because they are perceived to be stronger.

Dr. Sohn also provided possible explanations as to why height difference loses its value over time.

For instance, women might get used to her husband’s height which she may correlate to his physical attractiveness and strength. Also, she might lose characteristics that enabled her to marry her tell husband. Loss of beauty, for example, could cause her unhappiness directly or indirectly by changing her husband’s behavior. The husband may show less affection to her and more affection to other women.