How Does Humor Affect Marital Satisfaction?

Marital Satisfaction is the perceived by the benefits or burden of being married to a particular person. If that person brings benefits rather than burdens then there is marital satisfaction (M-Baumeister, 2007). But there are other characteristics in a marriage that make it satisfying. Some of the benefits maybe financial stability, protection, emotional stability and family well being, but so is humor. “A good sense of humor is one of the most sought out characteristics in a romantic partner” (Hall, 2013, Bressler & Balshine, 2006; Cann, Calhoun, & Banks, 1997). Humor has been found to be a significant element in marital satisfaction (Ziv, A. & Gadish, O., 1987). But although humor may be a key element the type of humor plays a big role. For instance when having an argument with your spouse and they are laughing and not taking you seriously you may find that their humor may not be helpful to the situation. Understanding that humor has an effect on marital satisfaction we can predict the effect a specific type of humor may have on marital satisfaction. …show more content…
According to the American Psychology Association 90% of people in Western cultures marry by the time they are 50. They have also found that healthy marriages not only promote personal well-being but also promotes physical, mental, social and educational stability for children of these healthy marriages. Unfortunately 40 to 50 percent of marriages end up in divorce. Understand what makes a marriage satisfying will might increase the levels of successful marriage that don’t end up in divorce. Through Ziv’s (1988) we discovered that 92% of husbands and wives believed that humor contributed significantly to their