A recent study suggests a unique link between human emotions, marital satisfaction, and genes. Genes influence marital satisfaction by affecting an individual's sensitivity to emotional states.
Researchers began tracking 156 middle-aged and elderly couples in 1989. Every five years, these couples would come to the University of California, Berkeley to report their marital satisfaction and engage in conversations with their partners in a laboratory setting. Researchers recorded the content of the conversations, as well as their body language, facial expressions, tone of voice, and other characteristics. The relationship between genes, emotions, and marital satisfaction was particularly evident among older couples. Researchers explained that this may be because we are more susceptible to genetic influences in old age, just as we are in childhood.
