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Do opposites attract, or do birds of a feather flock together? A new study supports the latter theory—at least when it comes to your and your S.O.'s drinking habits.
University of Michigan researchers interviewed 2,767 married couples about how much and how often they drank and how they felt about their spouses, including how critical and demanding they thought they were. They found that couples were more likely to be happy when both people in the relationship had the same drinking habits—but when one partner drank and the other was a teetotaler, the couple was more likely to experience issues.
Specifically, over the six years in which the study took place, members of couples with the same drinking habits grew to perceive their spouses as less critical and demanding, whereas those with different habits saw their partners more negatively over time. Women whose partners had different drinking tendencies than their own were especially unhappy with their marriages.
Why does choosing to imbibe (or not) make such a difference in relationships? A similar attitude toward drinking could reflect other lifestyle similarities or provide a point of connection in and of itself, says study author Kira Birditt. "It could be that couples who both drink share more interests in general or that they drink together," she says. It is easy to see, on the flip side, how couples could feel disconnected if one has to stay home while the other's out at a bar with friends.
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Source: http://www.glamour.com/story/drinking-habits-happy-relationship
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