WRCB: UT Study: Secret to happy marriage: A skinny wife

[China]

UT Study: Secret to happy marriage: A skinny wife

KNOXVILLE – Researchers from the University of Tennessee say the key to a happy marriage may be a thinner wife.

A study by University of Tennessee, Knoxville, doctoral candidate Andrea Meltzer and psychology Associate Professor James McNulty shows married couples are happier when wives are thinner than their husbands.

Meltzer and McNulty tracked the marital happiness of 169 newlywed couples. The couples indicated their height and weight and then independently and privately completed marital satisfaction questionnaires every six months for four years.

Controlling for factors such as depression, income level, and education, the study found that husbands were initially more satisfied in their marriages if their wives had lower body mass indexes (BMIs) than their own and initially less satisfied if their wives had higher BMIs than their own. Wives were more satisfied over time if they had lower BMIs than their husbands and less satisfied over time if they had higher BMIs than their husbands.

"We believe that the discrepancies between partners' BMIs affected women only through their effects on men, which takes time to emerge," Meltzer said. "In other words, we believe that the wives are happy because their husbands are happy."

This may be because weight and physical attractiveness are more important to men than women, Meltzer said. If the study had examined another quality that was more important to women than men, such as earning potential, the effects may have been reversed.

Click on the link for the full article

[Thiebear]

So if there is no alcohol or drug abuse.
If there is no mental or physical abuse, or therapy of any kind needed.
If there are no money problems for you or having relatives moving in due to the economy.
If either mother in law doesn't live 10 houses away and picks you apart.
SURE...
then your wife being 2pds less than you is a big deal.

Removing every other factor known to mankind this study finds:

[Tulane Skins Fan]

If you want to be happy for the rest of you life
Never make a pretty woman your life
If you want my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you...

[ACW]

If you want to be happy for the rest of you life
Never make a pretty woman your life
If you want my personal point of view
Get an ugly girl to marry you...

[YOUTUBE]Qh9ZZgDqzAg[/YOUTUBE]

[Wrong Direction]

I agree with the headline, but think they have the reasoning wrong. Purely anecdotal, but my wife and my friend's wife are both looking about as good as they possibly can right now and that has made both of them happier, which makes us happier.

For me, it's not about the 15lbs, it's about her being happier with her self. That means less negativity in the house and a happier family.

[twa]

I agree with WD, my wife is much more concerned with her weight than I am,imo she could have used a few pounds over the years(I don't favor bony women)

is she is doing it for me?...I don't think so

[Predicto]

All Predicto has to say is:

[Bang]

I agree with the headline, but think they have the reasoning wrong. Purely anecdotal, but my wife and my friend's wife are both looking about as good as they possibly can right now and that has made both of them happier, which makes us happier.

For me, it's not about the 15lbs, it's about her being happier with her self. That means less negativity in the house and a happier family.

Yep, must agree with this.

My wife is athletic, stays at 92-93 lbs. (5' tall) A pound to her is a big deal. She's not a crazy health nut, but she takes care of herself.
I must say, I love it.

~Bang

[mcsluggo]

this very provacative study is quite interesting.... however as with all empirical analyses, it is mildly flawed by data availability. The real underlying factoid determining the subset of marital bliss that this study is attempting to pinpoint is not determined by whether or not wives are (or become) chubby, rather it is determined by whether or not said wives retain the ability to INDUCE a chubby.

wife chubbiness is just a (poor) proxy for the underlying important data point. :-s

[Henry]

So if there is no alcohol or drug abuse.
If there is no mental or physical abuse, or therapy of any kind needed.
If there are no money problems for you or having relatives moving in due to the economy.
If either mother in law doesn't live 10 houses away and picks you apart.
SURE...
then your wife being 2pds less than you is a big deal.

I'm glad they do studies to tell us these things.

[IONTOP]

My girlfriend's BMI is 2.1 but I don't think the BMI calculator is set up to calculate BMI's of right hands...

[Destino]

Does that take into account the happiness gap?

Researchers have found that if the man of the house is less happy than his wife then the couple are much less likely to split up.

Alternatively if the husband is much happier, then his partner is much more likely to leave him.

A study by a team of economists identified a potentially disastrous phenomenon in marriage which they call "The Happiness Gap".

Using data from tens of thousands of relationships in three different countries, they discovered that the bigger the difference in the happiness of husbands and wives the greater the risk of a break-up.

Crucially, this effect was seen only when the husband was feeling better about life than his wife.

And in those cases, it was more likely that the unhappy wife would start divorce proceedings.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/science/7...n-divorce.html
Men are happier when their wives are at least in slight better shape then they are but they can't show that they are too happy. So basically the same principle applies to marriage as does in dating. You hit on the hot chick but don't look too excited if she responds positively. Just be cool man.

[Destructis]

I call BS, the chick who slice n dice and then garbage disposaled her hubbys wiener was skinny.

For me, it's not about the 15lbs, it's about her being happier with her self. That means less negativity in the house and a happier family.

I totally agree with you WD. It's all about self image. If a chubby woman has a good self image and is happy with her self, then that makes the relationship just as happy. Just make sure to hide the cutlery.

[Koala]

I agree with WD, my wife is much more concerned with her weight than I am,imo she could have used a few pounds over the years(I don't favor bony women)

is she is doing it for me?...I don't think so

Easy for you to say, your wife is skinny -- of course you're not concerned about her weight. If she was obese, your tune would probably change.

I file this under the category of obvious. For most men, one of the biggest fears about getting married is that the wifey balloons up as soon as she gets comfortable.

Im not saaying that every man would/should stop loving their wife just because she gains substantial weight, Im saying that it is obvious that all other things being equal, men prefer to be bigger than their women. We're hard wired genetically for that -- its why women usually prefer taller men and why men prefer thinner women. If a woman is bigger than her husband, she probably doesnt feel very feminine, and he probably doesnt feel very masculine.

[youngestson]

I agree with the headline, but think they have the reasoning wrong. Purely anecdotal, but my wife and my friend's wife are both looking about as good as they possibly can right now and that has made both of them happier, which makes us happier.

For me, it's not about the 15lbs, it's about her being happier with her self. That means less negativity in the house and a happier family.

Bingo!

Self-perception is very important to most women. If they are happy, the home is happy, and if not.......