A new study found that people who are married to their best friend or consider their partners their best friend feel happier and more satisfied with their lives, especially through stressful times.
Two researchers and economists, John Helliwell at the University of British Columbia and Shawn Grover at the Canadian department of finance, looked at three major surveys to determine the difference between life satisfaction before and during marriage. The data was gathered from different regions, including North America, Western Europe, sub-Saharan Africa, south-east Asia and Australasia.
The analysis showed that married people are happier than single people. This happiness is doubled when one marries his or her best friend, with the women benefitting more than the men.
"Marriage seems to be most important in middle age when people of every marital status experience a dip in well-being. This result seems to be applicable globally, even in regions of the world where the average effects of marriage are not positive," the researchers concluded.
It is a long-standing debate as to whether people marry to be happier or people are happy and therefore they get married. The findings of the recent study provided evidence that people choose to marry so that they have a companion during stressful times, according to the Medical Daily.
According to the Pew Research Center, about 25 percent of young adults today are putting off marriage until 2030. This does not look good, according to the researchers, as marital friendship is most needed during middle age to survive midlife crises. During this critical period, people experience lower life satisfaction generally, but those who are married said that they didn't feel that much pressure as compared to single people.
"The biggest benefits come in high-stress environments, and people who are married can handle midlife stress better than those who aren't because they have a shared load and shared friendship," Helliwell told the New York Times.
The study was published on the website of the National Bureau of Economic Research.
