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Study: Fighting with your spouse is
good for you
CHICAGO (AFP) — A good fight with your spouse could be good for the
health, a new study has found.
Couples who suppressed their anger have a mortality rate twice as
high as those in which at least one partner stands up for
themselves, according to the study which tracked 192 U.S. couples
for 17 years.
"When couples get together, one of their main jobs is reconciliation
about conflict," said lead author Ernest Harburg, an emeritus
professor with the University of Michigan.
"The key matter is, when the conflict happens, how do you resolve
it?" he said.
"When you don't, if you bury your anger, and you brood on it and you
resent the other person or the attacker, and you don't try to
resolve the problem, then you're in trouble."
Previous studies have shown that suppressing anger increases
stress-related illnesses like heart disease and high blood pressure.
(autoimmune)
This study looks at how suppressed anger and the resulting buildup
of resentment in a marriage affects overall mortality rates.
ON DEADLINE: More research to back study's claim
It adjusted for age, smoking, weight, blood pressure, bronchial
problems, breathing, and cardiovascular risk.
Harburg and his colleagues used a questionnaire to determine how the
spouses responded to behaviour that they perceived as unfair.
Both spouses suppressed their anger in 26 of the couples while at
least one spouse expressed their anger in the remaining 166 couples.
At least one death was recorded in half the couples who suppressed
their anger, whereas only 26% of the other couples suffered from the
death of a spouse.
And the anger-supressing couples were nearly five times more likely
to both be dead 17 years later, the study found.
Harburg cautioned that the results are still preliminary and do not
constitute a representative sample of current marital relationships.
The study period covers couples interviewed in 1971 and measures
survival through 1988.
It was carried out in a small, predominantly white and middle class
town in Michigan and most of the women were "housewives" born before
the sexual revolution.
An upcoming analysis of survival rates 30 years later will yield
more reliable results, Harburg said.
The paper will appear in the January edition of the Journal of
Family Communication.
Here's what readers had to say about how suppressed anger in
marriages can affect couples' mortality rates:
Tim Schmal wrote:
"The way things are going, my wife and I should live until we're
both 100."
The wizard of az wrote:
"If this is truly the case I should be showing up on the cover of M
& F ("Muscle and Fitness") next month."
mocha wrote:
"Arguing with very little clothing on also helps clarify whether or
not the issue is really important. If you're easily distracted then,
let the conflict go. If you're not distracted at all, oh, boy, are
you in trouble!"
truckman wrote:
"Maybe if your arguing you married the wrong person ..."
2muchfun wrote:
"... I think I will go home and start a fight tonight!"
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