According to a new study, a couple’s drinking habits are one case in which opposites certainly don’t attract.
In order to work out whether couples who party together really do stay together, researchers from the University of Michigan interviewed around 2,700 couples about how regularly and how much they drink. Participants were also asked about how critical, demanding or just generally irritating they believe their partner to be. Ain’t that just romantic?
The study discovered that those couples with similar drinking habits were more likely to feel happy in their relationship than those who reported one person regularly drinking while the other remained sober. In fact, the pairs reporting similar drinking habits perceived their partners as less critical and demanding as time passed, while those with opposing drinking patterns saw each other in a more negative light. Women who drank while their partners stayed sober were reported to be particularly unhappy with their relationships.
Cracking open the wine while your partner sips virtuously on sparkling water doesn’t usually make for the best evening, so we aren’t too surprised by the results. After all, if you’re hitting the town while your other half catches up on Netflix with a mug of herbal tea, it could quickly become a point of contention in the relationship…
According to author Kira Birditt, ‘It could be that couples who both drink share more interests in general or that they drink together.’
Do couples who drink together (or abstain together) stay together? Let us know your thoughts on Twitter @GraziaUK
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