Increasing Marital Quality and Physical Health

2018 study by researchers at the University of Southern California and the University of Virginia looked at gender differences in the evaluation of marital quality. Researchers' findings indicated that women's perceptions of marital quality depend more on expressed emotional support, shared power in relationships, collaborative problem-solving behaviors and her husband's perceived reliability. On the other hand, for men, the behavior that makes the difference in perceived marital quality is "support from their wives."

Further, a 2014 meta-analysis of 126 published empirical articles over the past 50 years investigated the association between marital relationship quality and physical health. Researchers found that greater marital quality led to better health and lower risk of premature mortality.