New Survey: Get Married To Live Happier!

Many stories we read, films we watch, jokes we crack and the incidents we see in the media propel many to come to the conclusion that married people are unhappy and bachelorhood is 'bindaas'.

In sync with this opinion, in recent years, the people who choose to remain unmarried are growing worldwide. But what is the actual fact? Who are happier? The married or the unmarried? A survey has revealed some numbers in this scenario.

As per the Gallup Poll, "Over the survey period, married people consistently reported their happiness levels higher than their unmarried counterparts, ranging from 12% to 24% higher depending on the year, according to the data. The gap was there even when researchers adjusted for factors such as age, race, ethnicity, gender, and education."

“Things like race, age, gender, and education matter. But marriage seems to matter more than those things when it comes to something like this measure of kind of living your best life,” said Bradford Wilcox, professor of sociology and director of the National Marriage Project at the University of Virginia. Wilcox reviewed and edited the Gallup Poll research.

The opinions based on this survey report also stated that it is the expectation level of the couple that keeps them either happy or sad in a marriage. Lesser the mutual expectation, more the happiness.

Sumit Agarwal, a psychologist based in New Delhi, said, "Marriage defines a commitment. Parentage defines a goal. When there is a goal, there could be discipline. When there is discipline, the purpose of life can be understood. But for bachelors, it looks all good as long as their friends and colleagues are married. Once the entire generation is married, the struggle for identity starts. Many unmarried individuals go either mild with inferiority complex or wild being gender haters. The peacefully living bachelors and spinsters are only a few. It's a psychological issue."

So, the new-age bachelors should rethink if they wish to make a decision of not getting into a nuptial relationship with anyone.