This recent study demonstrates what may be intuitive for some but what’s even more helpful is the Inc.com author’s segue into “what to do about it” if you don’t have this attribute in your current relationship.
Study after study proves people who have good relationships–especially with their spouse or significant other–are most likely to achieve happiness.
But what if there was a single attribute that could predict whether relationships would be good enough–and whether the people in them would ultimately be happy or frustrated?
Now, a massive research project (described by the university that sponsored it as the “most comprehensive study” of marriage happiness to date) says there is in fact one such single characteristic.
It’s bigger than any of the other things we often think of in relationships–bigger than compatibility, growth, sexual attraction, intelligence, wisdom, or values. The single attribute? Kindness.
Here’s the study–plus what to do if you’re already in a relationship, but it doesn’t seem to have the level of kindness you realize you might be missing.
5 little questions
Writing in the Journal of Research in Personality, Bill Chopik, associate professor of psychology and director of the Close Relationships Lab at Michigan State University, explained how he combed through data on 2,500 long-term married couples (20+ years) to figure this out.
His data source involved self-reported