A new study suggests that those who are soon-to-be-married should trust their gut instinct before their "big day" as it is likely to have you sense bliss or misery once you tie the knot.
Jim McNulty, lead author of the study and a Psychology professor of Florida State University, said to Philly,com, "people should try to trust their gut. I'm not saying that if people have ambivalence, (they shouldn't) get married. At that point, it makes sense to talk to a therapist."
He pointed out the importance of addressing a negative gut feeling to work out the relationship.
The team of researchers conducted their study over a span of four years involving 135 young couples. These newlyweds were surveyed every six months. The couples were measured based on their attitudes towards the relationship and their partners through selecting from the words, "good, satisfying, bad and dissatisfied."
Aside from this conscious evaluation, the team also attempted to tap into the couples' unconscious or "automatic attitude" by using a previously validated research method. Each participant was asked to do a test in front of a computer screen.
Pictures of their partners were flashed before them before being asked to select from two words, one positive and the other negative, such as "awesome" or "awful."
Prof. McNulty explained, "When people see a picture of their partner, it activates that automatic attitude." Someone who's positive toward their partner will be quicker to hit the positive key and slower to hit the negative key. These automatic, gut-level, immediate reactions might be unrelated to what they consciously think when they evaluated their partners."
Their observations revealed that the partners who were slow to click on the positive words were not as happy as the other participants who were fast in selecting the positive words.
Prof McNulty explained "The conscious attitude doesn't really predict what happens to the relationship over time." Thus, the "automatic attitudes" have more influence over the happiness of the marriage in the long term.
The study was published in the Nov. 28 issue of Science.
