Marriages Are Happier When Harpy Wives Calm Down Quickly

Researcher Lian Bloch of the Pacific Graduate School of Psychology found that in a study of 80 married couples over 25 years that couples in which wives “calm down” quickly after fights are happier. Happiness didn’t change if the husband calmed down quickly. Because men, right?

Bloch found that calm wives were able to look for constructive ways to deal with emotions and help solve problems. And apparently, the husbands loved that shit. Although, wives don’t love it when the man steps in. UC Berkeley psychologist Robert Levenson, senior author of the study, said that “Ironically, this may not work so well for husbands, who wives often criticize for leaping into problem-solving mode too quickly.” Oh, dear.

Of course, Bloch was quick to acknowledge that the times, they are a changin’.

“The middle-aged and older couples in our study grew up in a world that treated men and women very differently,” she said. “It will be interesting to see how these gender dynamics play out in younger couples.”