Men Who Do Housework Have Happier Marriages By Linda S. Mintle, Ph.D.
Rev up the vacuum cleaner! Dr. Linda shares how doing a little around the house can help your marriage.
Dr. Linda Helps - Rev up the vacuum cleaning. Pull out the dust cloth and get to work men. You’ll have a happier, less lonely, and more involved marriage than men who don’t help around the house. Housewives all over America are applauding this finding. Finally, research that makes sense! Does it sound too good to be true?
Marital researcher John Gottman studied men who did housework and found them to not only be happier in their marriages, but also have lower heart rates and better health. In addition, these men were less stressed and less likely to be sick in the four years following the initial research meeting.
I wish I could tell you that housework has curative powers -- that doing housework is the key to fabulous relationships. This certainly would liberate a lot of women and encourage men to share in the exciting work of cleaning, but it isn’t housework that cures troubled marriages.
Even though doing housework was tested as a separate factor in the marital study, housework really was not the issue. The husband who does housework tends to be a mutual and supportive partner as well. This mutuality and support evidenced in a life task like housework. Spouses who act in mutual and supportive ways have good marriages. They also enjoy physical benefit.
So the important thing to do is to engage in mutual and supportive acts with your spouse. Sharing in housework is definitely seen as supportive to most women!
Men, the next time you see your wives struggle to keep up with all the housework, turn off that football game. Pull out that toilet bowl cleaner, pat yourselves on the back, and say, “I’ll be less lonely, less stressed, and less likely to be sick if I scrub this commode.” Your wives will give you a big smile and say, “Now there’s the man I’m glad I married!”
http://www.cbn.com/LivingTheLife/Features/DrLindaHelps/MenHousework.asp- - -
Just out of curiosity, let's see how the "family values" crowd at FR is reacting...
"I'd suggest that if the wife would give up something more than just a smile we'd see a whole lot of cleaning going on!"
"Yeah...forget about THE one day of the week your team is playing, take off your football jersey and put on your pink apron and tiara instead."
"I wonder if marriages are happier if the wife helps with the mowing, snow shoveling, painting, plumbing, carpentry, wiring, ...?"
"Well, let's see. I work from 6:00am to 9:00pm Monday - Saturday just to maintain the lafe my wife wants to live. I guess I can start doing the housework on Sundays, but will that leave any time to enjoy my "happier" marriage?"Looks like the "defense of marriage" is in safe hands...