Friday 23 October 2009

Farmer wants a wife? Of course he does!

Have you ever seen a programme called farmer wants a wife? Basically the concept behind it is that single farmers from accross the country get a chance to meet lovely single ladies who are looking for a life in the countryside with a farmer by their side.

Anyway, while you may consider this programme sweet or ridiculous, in terms of happiness those farmers are doing the right thing as there's been a subtsantial amount of research to show that people who are married are happier, especially in the first few years after their wedding, but the feeling persists, albeit to a lesser extent throughout their life.

So why does marriage make us happy and could people who are not married replicate this effect if they understand why it is that marriage has this positive effect?

There could be a few reasons for happiness caused by marriage but probably the main on is that it results in a substantial increase in social interaction.
As humans are social animals in need of social and physical contact and these are some of the main contributors to our level of happiness, it seems likely that this is a factor in the level of happiness that marriage brings. So if you're not married a way to make up for this is by spending more time with friends and family - which would be my advice to anyone wanting to get happier...

It seems that 'Farmer wants a wife' will only help the farmer become happier, and that the rest of us would do better to pick up the phone to our Moms, or at least to watch it with a friend.

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