A New Study Suggests Couples That Get Sloshed Together Really Do Stay Together

GQ Australia 5/26/19

When it comes to marriage quality, there are a number of considerations that come into play. You would hope that these aren’t a new discovery or revelation made two days into the honeymoon, but something learned and lived with over the years of being together with your significant other.

Putting the toilet seat down is a good place to start, as is the hope that they stack the dishwasher, clean up after themselves after cooking, and don’t drink the milk straight from the carton. While none of us are perfect individuals, there are some basic things you’d hope we’re all doing to make us eligible to be betrothed. But according to one study, apparently all it takes is a shared love of a glass of Pinot or Sauvignon Blanc.

Published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Series, researchers wanted to see if there was a correlation between drinking and marital happiness, specifically among older couples.

Examining the answers from 2,767 couples who were married for an average of 33 years, researchers concluded that “drinking couples reported decreased negative marital quality over time” and found a specific correlation with drinking wives’ happiness.

“Wives who reported drinking alcohol reported decreased negative marital quality over time when husbands also reported drinking,” the abstract explained.

In an interview with Reuters, study authors explained that the amount couples drink didn’t matter nearly as much as whether or not both partners were on the same page when it came to drinking or abstention.

“We’re not suggesting that people should drink more or change the way they drink,” Dr. Kira Birditt of the University of Michigan told Reuters. “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.”

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