Claudian's Corner

According to the experts from the Geneva School of Business, marring a younger woman who belongs to the same cultural background could increase a couple's chances for a long and happy marriage by a fifth.

One couple that seems to serve as a model is the Queen of England and Duke of Edinburgh. At the age of 83 years, Queen Elisabeth is four years and 10 months younger than her husband prince Philip and they share the same Royal background as the Duke was a member of both the Greek and Danish royal families.

More than 1000 couples between the ages of 19 and 75 years were surveyed for the new study, which came to the conclusion that for a long and happy married life, the wife should be 27 per cent more intelligent than her spouse and should hold a degree, while it does not seem to be necessary for the husband. Nguyen Vi Cao, a principal investigator and an author of the study said that if people follow these guidelines in choosing their spouses, they could increase their chances of a happy and better marriage by up to 20 per cent. However, the chance of marital bliss was reduced if a man married a divorced woman.

After a thorough analysis, the experts realized that those men whose wives were at least 4 years younger and more intelligent, were much happier when compared to their counterparts who had tied the knot with older women. The academic research also established that women who were younger than their husbands, were better partners in life as they showed more respect for their husband's seniority and this kept the men happy.

In another study, the researchers questioned 4,000 married individuals on their marriage and counted the average time it took the couples to understand each other. According to the results, the minimum time that was needed for both spouses in order to get comfortable with each other's positive and negative habits was just under three years, and, in particular, 2 years, 11 months and 8 days after tying the knot.

The study also found that married people enjoyed their best sex, romantic meals and nights out with the other half after 2 years and 4 months. Wives were more likely to get a respectable number of flowers, boxes of chocolate and compliments two-and-a-half years after getting married. It was revealed that men helping with household chores, such as cooking and hoovering started just before the couple's third anniversary, whereas big arguments usually decreased three months later. Researchers also found that couples who stay faithful spend 24 minutes a day having a heart-to-heart each evening and never go to sleep after a falling out.

The findings of the study were reported this month in the European Journal of Operational Research.