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- A 2016 research said that couples who drink alcohol together have a more positive relationship.
- This applies to moderate drinkers as heavy drinkers were left out of the study pool.
- The study was derived from the results of a survey that included more than 2,700 couples.
A 2016 study found that couples who drink together generally stay together longer and are happier.
This was published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Series. The research concluded that drinking couples have displayed a decreasing amount of negative marital quality over time. This applies to couples over the age of 50.
“Concordant drinking couples reported decreased negative marital quality over time, and these links were significantly greater among wives,” it stated.
“Wives who reported drinking alcohol reported decreased negative marital quality over time when husbands also reported drinking and increased negative marital quality over time when husbands reported not drinking.”
It basically found that if the couple is drinking in moderation, they are both happy. And if only one of them is drinking, it is less beneficial.
The study examined results from 2,767 couples who were married for an average of 33 years.
In another article from Reuters, it was also found out that the amount the couples drink doesn’t matter as long as both partners are on the same page when it comes to alcohol drinking.
“We’re not suggesting that people should drink more or change the way they drink. We’re not sure why this is happening, but it could be that couples that do more leisure time activities together have better marital quality,” Dr. Kira Birditt of the University of Michigan stated.
She also went on to speculate that spouses have a powerful impact on each other and that if one were to stop drinking, the other should immediately follow.
How about those who are heavy drinkers? Well, Dr. Fred Blow, also from the University of Michigan, defended their choice of leaving it out of the study pool.
“Problem drinkers are a whole different kettle of fish. Serious heavy drinkers have disruptive relationships with people, particularly their partners. That’s an important issue that should be looked at going forward.”
