Who says that butterflies in the stomach are only for the young? A new study by psychologist Iris Wahring from the University of Vienna and her international team shows that when people over 50 enter into a new relationship and seal it by moving in together, their life satisfaction increases significantly. The study also challenges a common assumption: for couples who already live together, getting married later in life is not associated with a further increase in well-being on average. The findings were recently published in the International Journal of Behavioural Development.

How do relationship events affect older people?

Until now, research on ageing has mostly focused on loss events: How do people cope with the death of a partner or a painful break up? Iris Wahring from the University of Vienna and her research team from Humboldt University in Berlin, the University of British Columbia and Stanford University have now specifically examined 'gain events' – i.e. those moments when a new love enters their lives in old age.

To do this, the team evaluated long-term data from 2,840 participants in the US Health and Retirement Study aged between 50 and 95. The researchers compared how depressive symptoms and life satisfaction change when people move in with or marry a new partner.

Living together as a decisive turning point

The key findings show that moving in together is more decisive than legal status. "The transition to living together with a new partner was accompanied by a significant increase in life satisfaction," explains Wahring. This positive correlation was evident regardless of whether the couple married at the same time or not.

The surprise: couples who were already living together and only decided to marry later did not experience a further boost to their well-being by saying 'I do'. "Our results show that the bonus for well-being is already achieved by sharing a life together in a partnership," says the researcher. "The marriage itself does not offer any measurable additional gain in life happiness for couples who already share a table and a bed."

Resilience in the face of separation

Separation also revealed an unexpected picture: contrary to common expectations, relationship breakdowns in this age group did not lead to a measurable decline in well-being. "This suggests that older adults have remarkable emotional resilience or use other social resources to cushion such transitions," said Wahring.

No gender differences in late-life happiness

Another important finding concerns the role of gender: Contrary to the researchers' assumption that men benefit more from a stable relationship than women, the study found no differences. Although men reported less emotional support from their social circle (friends and family), the positive effect of a new cohabitation was very similar for both genders and across all age groups studied.

Important when interpreting the results: "These are statistical averages," emphasises Wahring. "While the group of people who move in together benefits overall, individual experiences can of course vary in each case – every relationship and every life path remains unique."

Cultural context plays a role

Furthermore, relationship events also depend heavily on the social context: "Our findings reflect the situation in North America, but since relationship norms in the USA and Austria have developed similarly, the findings are easily transferable. Historically, there was a clear 'marriage bonus' in Europe and North America, but this is no longer evident in current studies such as this one. The reason for this could be the declining stigmatisation of unmarried couples. In countries with stronger prejudices against unmarried people, however, a significant marriage bonus could still exist today," Wahring summarises.

Summary:

• The study examined the effects of relationship events (separation, moving in together, marriage) on the well-being of people between the ages of 50 and 95.
• The results show that in with a new partner is associated with a significant increase in life satisfaction.
• Those who already live together do not benefit additionally in terms of well-being from a later marriage.
• Separations do not necessarily lead to a decline in well-being in old age, which indicates a high level of psychological resilience.
• The results underscore the importance of social bonds in old age and show that new partnerships have a positive effect into old age.

About the University of Vienna:

At the University of Vienna, curiosity has been the core principle of academic life for more than 650 years. For over 650 years the University of Vienna has stood for education, research and innovation. Today, it is ranked among the top 100 and thus the top four per cent of all universities worldwide and is globally connected. With degree programmes covering over 180 disciplines, and more than 10,000 employees we are one of the largest academic institutions in Europe. Here, people from a broad spectrum of disciplines come together to carry out research at the highest level and develop solutions for current and future challenges. Its students and graduates develop reflected and sustainable solutions to complex challenges using innovative spirit and curiosity.