Do Divorced Men Die Earlier?

Every single day, there is a new study on divorce that tells us something we could have figured out on our own just by using basic common sense. While these studies are important because they give us a quantifiable basis to form scientific conclusions, they are also funny because they seem to “prove” things that are highly intuitive. In other cases, the results really are surprising.

Whether or not you’re surprised by this fact, a new study indicates that married men in “successful” marriages live happier, longer, and healthier lives than those who aren’t. While the study is useful, perhaps, studies like this always exclude men who stay in marriages out of duty but are experiencing all the same stressors related to their relationship. This study, however, surveyed men who felt that their marriage was either “successful” or “unsuccessful”.

The study, conducted in Tel Aviv, recently reported that men who believe their marriages are “successful” are 21% less likely to die prematurely.

The problem with studies like this 

Studies like this are interesting to folks who want to read about how their wife is killing them, but the truth is, you are likely to get the same results from asking anyone if anything is “successful” or “unsuccessful”.

As an example, let’s say I surveyed the same amount of men who were asked to describe their careers as “successful” or “unsuccessful”. Would the men who described their careers as “unsuccessful” be more or less likely to die prematurely than those who described their careers as “successful”. What about their lives in general? What about men who, in general, felt that they were “unsuccessful”? Would they outlive their successful counterparts?

Self-determination and self-description 

The second issue with a study like this is that it relies on men who are describing themselves. In other words, these men are asked to rate their marriage based on a scale of how successful they think their marriage is.

It’s possible, however, that someone in a marriage that most would envy would find their marriage to be rife with stress and conflict while others who appear superficially to be in constant conflict with one another actually are faring better than they appear.

In this case, the rating of successfulness or unsuccessfulness may be more indicative of the individual respondent’s personal self-image than the quality of their marriage when compared against other marriages.

Lastly, there’s no standard for a “successful” marriage, so there’s no way to actually measure the respondent’s own perspective against the reality of their situation. They could just be an Eeyore, for all we know, and they’d die quickly regardless of how successful their marriage is.

Contact a West Palm Beach Divorce Attorney 

While divorce is also linked to self-esteem issues, the effects of not being in constant conflict with your partner can only alleviate the stress. The West Palm Beach divorce attorneys at Bruce S. Rosenwater & Associates is here to help. Call today!

Resource:

ph.news.yahoo.com/men-unsuccessful-marriages-die-early-093555977.html