Women and men in committed relationships
are happier than other people, claims a Cornell University
study.
Researchers analyzed information collected from 691
people and found that the stronger the commitment, the
greater the sense of happiness and well-being.
Married people had the highest sense of well-being, whether
they were happily married or not. Next on the scale of
happiness and well-being were people who were living together,
followed by people in steady relationships and those in
casual relationships.
The findings were published in a recent issue of the
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.
"Some commitment appears to be good, but more commitment
appears to be even better," study author Claire Kamp Dush,
a postdoctoral fellow with the Evolving Family Theme Project
of the Institute for Social Sciences at Cornell, said
in a prepared statement.
The finding that even people in unhappy marriages had
a high sense of well-being and happiness may be due to
the benefits they derive from the stability, commitment
and social status of marriage, Kamp Dush said.
"Even when controlling for relationship happiness, being
married is associated with higher self-esteem, greater
life satisfaction, greater happiness and less distress,
whereas people who are not in stable romantic relationships
tend to report lower self-esteem, less life satisfaction,
less happiness and more distress," she said.
Studying romantic relationships is important because
these relationships can affect people's mental and physical
health, sexuality and financial status, Kamp Dush noted.
