Two Canadian academics published a new paper on marriage in December 2014 that was discussed by the New York Times' Claire Cain Miller on Thursday. Commissioned by the National Bureau of Economic Research, the study analysed data from across the world, including both Eastern and Western contexts.
The conclusions of John Helliwell, from the Vancouver School of Economics, and Shawn Grover, from the Canadian Department of Finance, deal with the commonly understood notion of happiness within relationships, but Mr Helliwell spoke to Ms Miller about the new framework that emerged: "What immediately intrigued me about the results was to rethink marriage as a whole".
The researcher's statement was made in relation to the study's finding that the primary presence of a friendship between partners leads to approximately twice as much life satisfaction. Mr Helliwell suggested: "Maybe what is really important is friendship, and to never forget that in the push and pull of daily life."
According to the Bureau's research, the "push and pull" of life is most acute during the middle-aged years of people's marriages. The researchers found that a drop in life satisfaction typically occurs during the mid-life stage due to the predominant impact of career and family pressures.
Mr Helliwell explained further, "The biggest benefits come in high-stress environments, and people who are married can handle mid-life stress better than those who aren't because they have a shared load and shared friendship".
However, the study also stated that the benefits of friendship are associated with a romantic partnership in general, and legally married couples did not experience a higher level of life satisfaction—those people examined by the researchers who lived in de facto relationships benefited equally.
Another notable finding of the study was the increased likelihood of stable marriages among educated, well-paid people in comparison to the increased likelihood of divorce and unhappy marriages among the lower-earning, less-educated strata of society.
The researchers looked at data from numerous geographical regions, including the United Kingdom, Latin America, South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.