'Do-It-Yourself' Can Be Fightin' Words

At least, not compared to just living with your partner

(NEWSER) - If you're living with your significant other, don't worry too much about tying the knot, because it won't make you any happier, according to a new study. The study followed 2,737 single men and women for six years, watching as 896 of them either got married or moved in with a lover, Science Daily reports. The results? Both married couples and cohabitators exhibited higher levels of happiness and fewer depression symptoms than single people—but married couples didn't have an advantage over those just cohabitating. More»

Same isn't true for husbands' lack of sleep: Study

(NEWSER) - If your wife has a poor night’s sleep, it can be bad news for the marriage—but if it’s your husband who can’t drift off, that’s no problem, a study finds. After a woman’s night of tossing and turning, the likelihood of an argument the next day increased. But men’s poor sleep didn’t boost the odds of a feud. “We found that wives' sleep problems affect her own and her spouse's marital functioning the next day,” said a University of Pittsburgh researcher. More»

...thanks to weddings later in life: sociologists

(NEWSER) - Though fewer people are getting married, more who do are sticking with it, census data shows. Some three-quarters of couples who wed after 1990 saw a 10-year anniversary—3 percentage points higher than those who wed in the early 1980s. That’s when the divorce rate reached its peak in the US, the Washington Post reports. The longer marriages are attributable in part to people getting hitched later in life, after they’ve finished their educations, sociologists say. More»

Money? Religion? Nah, more like bathroom habits

(NEWSER) - The average couple has 312 arguments a year—and most of them are over really silly things. A new study reveals the top 10 argument triggers, and though they may seem innocuous enough, the Daily Mail notes that one in five Britons have considered breaking up over them:

1. Stubble left in the sink
2. Dirty marks (ew!) in the toilet

Researchers find good things come to those who wait

(NEWSER) - If you’re after a healthy relationship, it may be best to wait before hitting the sack. Couples who wait longer are more satisfied and stable later, research published in the Journal of Family Psychology suggests. “If couples become sexual too early, this very rewarding area of the relationship overwhelms good decision-making and keeps couples in a relationship that might not be the best for them in the long run,” the study's head tells LiveScience . More»