Is There An Average Couple?

The longer you’re married, the less you know your spouse. A study published in the Journal of Consumer Psychology included 38 couples aged 19-32 and 20 couples aged 62-78. The couples rated their own and their partner’s preferences for recipes, movies and kitchen design. On average 47% of the younger couples’ predictions were right versus 40% of the older couples’. It seems older couples pay less attention to each other because they view their relationships as committed. Also, older couples assume they are more alike than they are. Nevertheless, older couples were more satisfied with their relationships. That comes with “age” in marriage.

However, any wife who thinks her husband takes longer to ask directions than she does is probably right. According to a study by a British car insurance company, the average man drives an extra 276 miles a year because of being lost versus 256 miles for women. Twenty-six percent of men will wait at least 30 minutes before asking directions and 12% won’t ask strangers at all. For women it’s almost the opposite. Seventy-four percent of women have no problem asking directions and 37% pull over as soon as they realize they’re lost. Of course, “realization time” could vary.

Men may have trouble asking directions, but they get in trouble if they flirt while driving. In a survey of 3,000 drivers by another British car insurance company, 41% of drivers admitted flirting while driving and 15% admitted crashing or having a near miss because of looking at an attractive passerby. When broken down by sex, 33% of women said they flirted with other motorists versus 50% of men. However, 6% of men said they bought a particular car because it attracted women. When it comes to actual flirting, men usually honk and women usually smile – but maybe women smile because they know 63% of men are more courteous to attractive drivers.

Trouble asking directions and flirting may be 2 reasons why dogs are men’s best friends. The National Pet Owner Survey estimates 62% of U.S. households have a pet and 45% of them are dogs. In 2010 pet owners are expected to spend $ 47.7 billion on Fido and Fluffy – that’s $ 2.2 million more than in 2009. The importance of dogs in family life has motivated developers to include walking trails, dog parks and dog-friendly lakes in new developments. It seems dog owners put the “dog” in do-gooder.