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The happier a wife is with her marriage, the happier the husband is with life overall irrespective of how he feels about his marriage according to a recent survey. The study, which was conducted by Dr Deborah Carr of Rutgers University and has been published in the Journal of Marriage and Family, analysed the responses of 394 couples who took part in a survey concerning health, income and disability in 2009. Each of these couples had been asked several questions concerning their level of marital satisfaction such as whether or not they feel that their spouse appreciates them, how often they and their spouse argued with one another and how often they were irritated by their spouses. Couples were also asked to keep a detailed diary over a period of 24 hours within which they noted how satisfied they were whilst completing various tasks – such as shopping, household chores and watching television – with their spouses. Following respondent’s answers having been analysed, researchers concluded that, whilst those that reported being happier in their marriage were generally happier with life overall, husbands with low levels of marital satisfaction would still report being satisfied with life in general provided their wives had reported a high degree of marital satisfaction. Researchers have posited that their findings can be attributed to the fact that, when a woman is satisfied with her marriage, she is more likely to do more for her husband and that this will have a positive effect on his overall quality of life. It was also discovered that wives became less happy if their husband became sick and they were required to act as a carer, though the same was not true of husbands. Researchers claimed that this can be attributed to the fact that, whilst men will often look to their wives to care for them whilst unwell, women are more likely to seek the help of their children. Academics have noted that their findings are of great importance as martial satisfaction and happiness have a significant impact on health and wellbeing.