Couples who refer to themselves as ‘we’ are happier than those who say ‘I’, ‘me’ or ‘you.”
The study conducted at the University of California at Berkley, found a link between the use of pronouns and marital happiness. According to the study, reported in the Daily News and in the Domestic Diversions blog, middle-aged and older couples who used words like “we” and “us” when discussing their marital disagreements experienced less stress than those couple who used the words “I” “me” and “you.”
Not surprisingly, more older couples than middle aged ones identified themselves as “we;” shared life experiences, birth, death and other milestones, probably gave the more senior couples a greater sense of shared identity.
According to the Daily News, earlier studies have shown that “we-ness” versus “me-ness” is a strong indicator of how happy younger couples are.
It would be interesting to see if the pronoun/identity factor is predictive of divorce. Do couples who team up to become a “we” stay together? Conversely, do couples who become polarized “me’s” divorce?
