Did You Know?

In spite of rising divorce rates and changes in the way society views marriage, many couples still aspire to be happily married. This is good news! Perhaps this is because marriage is still considered to be a fundamental social institution, providing many benefits for men, women and children. For men and women, marriage is directly associated with:

• lower mortality rates

• lower rates of chronic illnesses

• less depression and anxiety

• less substance abuse

• greater financial well-being

Children who grow up with two happily married parents are:

• More likely to experience better physical and mental health

• Less likely to drop out of school

• Less likely to engage in criminal behavior

• Less likely to experience conduct disorders

• More likely to have a stable marriage of their own

• More likely to have career success in adulthood

OPPOSITES ATTRACT

Did you notice that you probably married someone very different than yourself? There's the old saying that "opposites attract." In most cases spouses are very different. Our brains are wired differently; we come from different backgrounds; and we have differing personalities.

Women are relational creatures, sharing feelings easily and talking through problems. Men tend to be more fact-oriented, desiring to quickly fix or solve problems. Men tend to focus on one thing at a time and women are good at multi-tasking.

Differing families of origin can cause conflict with something as simple as which way should the toilet paper be hung on the roll? Over or under? The more a husband and wife know about the family of their spouse the better he or she will understand the differences.

All spouses experience personality differences. There are four major categories of personality; easy-going, goal oriented, peacemaker or detail-oriented. When we identify our personality and that of our spouse, it is easier to understand each other. Learn to accept each other and appreciate your differences. Learn to laugh about how different you are. Understand that you are different.

back to top