Daily Smart Fact #25: Key to a Successful Marriage? A Much Hotter Wife

Key Takeaway: Studies have shown that the best predictor of “both husbands and wives displaying positive marital behavior was wives being more attractive than their husbands.”

We are in full swing of wedding season.  Our close friends are now all getting married (see my Prima Nocta post) and it’s made me question: What makes a successful marriage?

Ok, obviously there’s a lot of factors that go into this.  Not to de-emphasize hard work, similar values, love, compromise, religion, etc…but I DID find this study about hotter wives really interesting and wanted to share it with you.

Here are some key findings from this study:

• Attractive levels of husbands and wives didn’t matter (they both could be celebrity-level hot or both ugly slobs), it was the disparity in attractiveness between the two, and in particular, the wife being hotter than the husband, that mattered the most.
• Hotter husbands weren’t good spouses because “attractive men have available to them more short-term mating opportunities which may make them less satisfied and less committed to maintain the marital relationship through their behavior.”
• Uglier wives are meaner to their husbands, because hot husbands are mean to their ugly wives – “Because physical attractiveness is less important to wives, in contrast, relative attractiveness may only affect them through its effect on husbands. That is, because the satisfaction and behavior of husbands’ should positively predict the satisfaction and behavior of wives, less attractive wives’ may be less satisfied and behave more negatively in response to their more attractive husbands.”
• Hotter women, on the other hand, don’t care about looks as much – “more attractive wives behaved more constructively during social support interactions with their husbands.”

Just another reason why my marriage works so well, I guess! 🙂