Tag: relationship studies

For professional success—choose a conscientious spouse

Psychological Science has published an interesting study conducted by researchers at Washington University in St. Louis that links career success with certain spousal traits. Somehow we have always known that who you choose to marry will play a large role in your future life—but now we know it can greatly impact your career success and therefore, financial security and lifestyle choices. Turns out that it is really important to choose wisely.

Their research studied the personality characteristics and careers of 4,500 married people. The test they used measures people on five traits—extraversion, openness, agreeableness, neuroticism, and conscientiousness. They found that only one trait—conscientiousness– had a significant impact on their spouse’s career success. They defined success as level of income, steady promotions and job satisfaction. This study used Australian couples as they provided a significant number for the sample group.

The conclusions the researchers came away with are that a spouse’s behavior tends to rub off on their partner and over time we pick up on one another’s habits and strengths. Secondly, if one’s spouse has it together and handles a great deal at home and outside of work—their partner is freer to focus on their career and to put in the time and energy that leads to promotions and greater success.

What was very interesting is that they found no gender differences between the traits that helped a woman’s or a man’s career. Either one benefited from having a conscientious spouse. So take note both men and women readers out there. It’s great to love their beautiful smile, their positive energy, their smarts, and the interesting quirks that make them uniquely them. But if he or she is a slacker—you may be in for a life of long hours, low pay and thoughts of what might have been.

Couple’s communication is helped by food

We have all heard that low blood sugar can lead to anger, among other things. But how much do we actually focus on the role of food on our moods and relationships? According to findings just published in the Proceedings of the national Academy of Sciences, missing a meal can indeed be very bad for your relationship.

In their study, 107 married couples tested their blood sugar levels before their first morning meal and again before bedtime. Each participant was also given a voodoo doll that represented their partner, and they were told to insert up to 51 pins daily, depending on how angry they felt with their spouse.

You guessed it- those with the lowest nighttime blood sugar levels used the most pins. Women overall used more pins, but the difference was not significant. After 21 days the couples were taken to a lab and told that they were going to compete with one another on how fast they could press a button- in order to test aggressive behavior. The winners would then be able to blast their partner with a loud noise through their headphones. Fortunately, they were actually doing this to the computer- but did not know it. Guess who did the most blasting? Those with the lowest nighttime blood sugar levels blasted their partners more frequently and louder.

The conclusion therefore is that if couples eat before having that difficult or potentially heated discussion, their levels of anger and aggression will be down and easier to manage in general. Makes sense- and I plan to remember this when I work with couples on improving communication- which virtually all couples cite as one of the major issues contributing to their relationship problems.