Men’s Happiness Affected When They Are Sole Breadwinners Of Family, New Study Suggests

Being the sole breadwinners of the family takes a toll on men’s psychological well-being and health, a new study by University of Connecticut has found. The results were opposite for women who made larger economic contributions to their family, according to the research.

For the study, the researchers examined 15 years of data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth about married people aged between 18 and 32. Their observation found that men who were the only earning member of their family were affected the most psychologically. According to the study, their happiness scores were 5 percent lower and health scores 3.5 percent lower, on average, compared to couples who contributed equally to their family’s finance.

“The data definitely seems to indicate that, in general, as men take responsibility for greater and greater shares of the couple’s pooled income, they experience declines in their psychological well-being and health,” Christin Munsch, lead author of the study, said in a statement Friday.

For women, making higher financial contribution had a positive effect on their overall well-being. However, their psychological well-being and health were affected when they pitched in less money for their family’s finances, the researchers found.

The stark differences between happiness of men and women were attributed to gender-specific roles often imposed by the society.

“Men who make a lot more money than their partners may approach breadwinning with a sense of obligation and worry about maintaining breadwinner status,” Munsch said. “Women, on the other hand, may approach breadwinning as an opportunity or choice. Breadwinning women may feel a sense of pride, without worrying what others will say if they can't or don’t maintain it.”

“Our study finds that decoupling breadwinning from masculinity has concrete benefits for both men and women,” Munsch said. “Whereas men’s psychological well-being and health tend to increase as their wives take on more economic responsibility, women's psychological well-being also improves as they take on more economic responsibility.”


The study will be presented this weekend at the American Sociological Association’s annual conference in Seattle.

Source:  By Vishakha Sonawane

http://www.medicaldaily.com/how-higher-economic-contributions-family-has-negative-psychological-effect-men-395422

Coventry boffins say they've found the secret to happiness... and it's something you might not expect

Yet another reason to get your five a day folks 

Boffins at Warwick University reckon they have unearthed the secret to happiness – eat more fruit and veg.

New research from the university suggests eating up to eight portions a day can make you happier.

The study is one of the first major scientific attempts to explore psychological well-being beyond the traditional finding that fruit and veg can cut the risk of cancer and heart attacks.

Happiness benefits were detected for each extra daily portion of fruit and veg up to eight portions per day.

And the reason could be linked to antioxidants with current research suggesting a connection between optimism and carotenoid – a pigment found in plants – in the blood.

The researchers concluded people who changed from almost no fruit and veg to eight portions a day would feel an increase in life satisfaction equivalent to moving from unemployment to landing a job.

And the well-being improvements happened within 24 months.

Warwick’s Prof Andrew Oswald said: “Eating fruit and vegetables apparently boosts our happiness far more quickly than it improves human health.

“People’s motivation to eat healthy food is weakened by the fact that physical-health benefits, such as protecting against cancer, accrue decades later.

“However, well-being improvements from increased consumption of fruit and vegetables are closer to immediate.”

The study followed more than 12,000 randomly selected people who kept food diaries and had their psychological well-being measured. The authors found big positive psychological benefits within two years of an improved diet.

It follows the five-a-day mantra which the NHS says is based on advice from the World Health Organisation. The global body recommends eating at least 400g of fruit and veg a day to lower the risk of serious health problems such as heart disease, stroke and some cancers.

The work is a collaboration between the university and the University of Queensland.

Dr Redzo Mujcic, research fellow at the University of Queensland, said: “Perhaps our results will be more effective than traditional messages in convincing people to have a healthy diet. There is a psychological payoff now from fruit and vegetables – not just a lower health risk decades later.”

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Source:  By Catherine Lillington

http://www.coventrytelegraph.net/news/health/coventry-boffins-say-theyve-found-11581142