In March 2009 I conducted a brief research survey looking to discover what basic elements are necessary for a marriage or committed relationship to thrive.
After surveying 1028 participants, here’s what the research discovered.
Top 10 basic elements
- Communication
- Trust
- Love
- Respect
- Commitment
- Honesty
- Humor/Laughter
- Sex
- Friendship
- Compatibility
A few demographic details about the respondents -
Male – 404 respondents – or 40%
Female – 617 respondents – or 60%
81% or the respondents were currently married with 7% cohabitating. Average length of current relationship was 10.8 years and 64% of the respondents had children.
In case you’re wondering – the actual research question was:
What are the basic elements necessary for a marriage/committed relationship to thrive? (list up to 6)
What’s your thought?
Corey is the editor of Simple Marriage as well as a licensed marriage & family therapist. While he has a Ph.D. in Family Therapy, he only occasionally likes to be called doctor. If you enjoyed this post, please subscribe so you don't miss any future posts.- 8 Principles for a Zen Marriage
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{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
What kind of chance does 6 out of 10 give me?
Well, it's hard to argue with that list. I think each relationship is unique and probably values most of these same qualities in a slightly different order. When I conducted a slightly different survey (asking my readers which post topics they had the most interest in), I received similar results with Communication also taking the top spot.
Those are all good just in my oppinion out of order for me it would lool like this
1. LOVE
2. COMMITMENT
3. RESPECT
4. TRUST
5. COMMUNICATION
6. HONESTY
7. SEX
8. HUMOR/LAUGHTER
9. FRIENDSHIP
10. COMPATIBILITY
Personally, I love lists like this. The things that I worried about the most prior to my wedding (sex, compatibility) aren't top priorities on this list, and that's what I've learned in my short marriage. Communication, respect, trust, and acceptance are the key things I value within my marriage.
Thanks for the post. My wife is screaming at me because she claims that we are 10 for 10 and I would say we are 9.5 for 10.
Uh oh- she's screaming at you, I don't know if that's on the list.