It goes against one’s better judgment to constantly get drunk with one’s spouse. And many couples are drunk enough on love to the point that they don’t need alcohol to solidify their love union. Nevertheless, a study published by The Journals of Gerontology seems to support the idea that drinking with your spouse will help you stay together and not get divorced.
According to research conducted by the University of Michigan, spouses who drank together were less likely to say that their husband or wife was “irritating, critical or too demanding.” This interesting result of the study was only true in cases where both spouses drank. If one spouse was a nondrinker, and the other spouse engaged in drinking, the chances of viewing the other spouse negatively increased.
The flip-side is also true for nondrinking spouses
The results of this study made headlines, perhaps because most people would not expect any spouses to receive a benefit from getting drunk together — aside from having a raucous time. What didn’t receive as much press, however, was the fact that couples who don’t drink together also tend to stay together. Therefore, perhaps the problem that leads to an increase in divorces relates to spouses who have different life habits as they pertain to drinking.
According to one of the sociologists who co-authored the study, “We’re not suggesting that people should drink more or change the way they drink.” She also said, “We’re not sure why this is happening, but it could be that couples that do more leisure time activities together have better marital quality.”
Long story short, feel free to get drunk with your spouse, but if you’re the one who’s always getting drunk and your spouse is not, you may want to lay off the alcohol for the sake of your marriage. Of course, no one should ever have to endure being married to someone suffering from an alcoholism problem, and alcoholism has led to the end of numerous marriages.
Is drinking or a lack of drinking a source of tension that led to your divorce?
Many spouses decide to pursue divorce due to tension over drinking habits and preferred leisure activities. If this has happened in your marriage, try not to feel bad or “guilty” about it. Sometimes, two people grow apart or realize that they are not the best match and divorce is the best option for their futures.
