Feeling anxious before marriage is quite common. But if your gut feeling does not agree with your choice of partner then drop the idea of tying the knot, a latest study states.
In a study conducted on 135 newlyweds, researchers found that those who thought that they will end up in a problematic marriage were actually not happy post-wedding.
"The conscious attitude doesn't really predict what happens to the relationship over time," said study author Jim McNulty, a professor of psychology at Florida State University.
The participants were tracked for four years and were told to assess their relationship by 'good,' 'satisfying,' 'bad' or 'dissatisfied.'
Further, the couples were shown words such as 'awesome' or 'awful' on a computer screen. "Right before they saw the word, we would flash a picture of their partner for a third of a second," McNulty said. "When people see a picture of their partner, it activates that automatic attitude." People who are happy with their partners hit the positive key faster compared to unhappier ones.
The researchers stated that people who took longer to take note of the positive words for their partners were discontent with the marriage four years later.
"I think the findings suggest that people may want to attend a little bit to their gut," McNulty said. "If they can sense that their gut is telling them that there is a problem, then they might benefit from exploring that, maybe even with a professional marriage counsellor," he said. The study was published in the journal Science.
