This Just In…

Studies, studies, studies…

We’re always hearing about this or that new study that claims to reveal something startlingly profound about the human condition.

Sometimes, it does. Sometimes, it WAAAY doesn’t.

Take the recent study published in the April edition of the Journal of Family Psychology, which looked at married couples and came to the conclusion that stress levels in women declined when hubby helped with the housework, while stress levels in men went down as they watched their wives doing household chores.

Wow. That’s pretty startling stuff.

So women relax better when they see their husbands helping around the house, and men relax better when they see their wives being busy around the house and not getting too comfortable in their leisure time, huh?

Hey-stop the presses!

Anyone who’s seen the “Mad Men” television program, which depicts life in 1960 BEFORE the feminist movement, knows that it was only 50 years ago that married men were NOT expected to do ANY housework, just as many married women were NOT expected to work outside the house.

It was the perfect division of labor in those unenlightened times. But with the rise of the feminist movement in the 1970s, new generations of Americans have grown up with a different ethic when it comes to sharing household chores.

I realize that all husbands aren’t as enlightened as me, but those who see their wives as friends and equals rather than as child bearers and servants know that helping out goes a LONG way toward domestic bliss.

Because in today’s world, women are as likely as men to be working outside the home to find their own identities and to help make ends meet.

Now, as far as the other part of the study that says men are more relaxed when they watch their wives busying themselves while the guys kick back and enjoy their leisure time – that I just don’t get.

I’d rather my wife and I share our leisure time together as much as possible and me not sit back and watch while she fusses. Maybe I’m just weird that way…

Darby Saxbe, lead author of the University of Southern California study, admitted its findings tended to paint a somewhat pessimistic picture of marriage. “Your biological adaptation to stress looks healthier when your partner has to suffer the consequences – more housework for husbands, less leisure for wives,” Saxbe said.

That’s nice.

Saxbe also headed up an earlier study that revealed happily married women had less stress than women who were not happily married.

Hey, where can I get a big grant to do this kind of probing, earth-shattering research?

Another recent study also caught my eye. It basically said that – contrary to what most people might believe – happy people don’t necessarily live longer and that some stress is actually good for you.

For example, if you have a job you hate, you should quit because the stress will kill you. But if your stress comes from a job you love, the stress won’t really hurt you.

Two more conclusions from the happiness study: If you hate going to the gym, don’t go. The key to longevity is not in constant exercise but in doing something you’re passionate about, even if it’s as simple as gardening.

The other conclusion: Don’t retire early. The study showed that people who kept working into their 70s generally “lived much longer” than those who checked out early.

That makes me feel so much better.

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