Has My Wife's Love Faded Somehow?...The Real Reason Only Husbands Don't Know

A study has found that love for a spouse fades faster in women than in men after marriage.

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On the 9th (local time), the British daily The Times reported on research conducted by Saurabh Bhargava, an economics professor at Carnegie Mellon University in the United States, published in the journal of the Association for Psychological Science (APS). The study found that women who have been engaged or married for more than 3 years feel love for their partner 60% less frequently than women who have been engaged or married for less than 2 years.

On the other hand, men who have been engaged or married for more than 3 years felt love for their partner only 0.4% less frequently than men engaged or married for less than 2 years, showing no significant difference.

There was also a clear difference between men and women in the frequency of feeling 'excitement' toward their partner depending on the length of engagement or marriage. Women with longer engagement or marriage periods experienced 'excited love' emotions nearly 80% less than women with shorter periods. In contrast, men showed a decrease of only 30%, much smaller compared to women.

This result was obtained by Professor Bhargava tracking the emotions of about 3,900 adults ranging from recently engaged individuals to those married for several decades. He analyzed reports submitted by participating couples and spouses every 30 minutes over ten days via their mobile phones, detailing who they were with and what emotions they were feeling.

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Professor Bhargava speculated, "It is not certain what factors create the differences between men and women, but the division of household labor may have influenced this." Indeed, statistics included in the study showed that as marriage duration increased, women spent more time on housework and cooking, while men spent more time resting and napping. Additionally, Professor Bhargava explained, "When children are born, the way women experience love may change. The feelings of love once directed toward the husband shift toward the children."

However, after about 7 years of marriage, the frequency of feeling love was found to be almost the same for both spouses. Regarding this, Professor Bhargava added, "Although romantic passion and love may fade over time, they continue to persist."

Meanwhile, couples who spent at least 8 hours apart showed a clear tendency to feel love regardless of the length of their marriage. This confirmed the saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."

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