We just
have started a new series on the exciting research findings from Teleios! Our
first evidence, presented over the last several weeks, was that peer-reviewed and
Teleios sponsored scientific studies support improved wellbeing with
Christianity!
Today
let us continue this thrilling journey of the benefits of scripture by
exploring what the medical literature states about religion and traditional
man/woman based marriage. This a vital topic for our lives.
Remember,
most all academic studies evaluating religion are performed in traditionally
First World countries which are historically Christian. Although academic authors
typically are shy to mention Christianity, the majority of subjects in these
studies would have been de facto evangelical or social Christians.
Our
review of the medical literature shows an overwhelming benefit of traditional
marriage on both general wellbeing and specific parameters that might affect wellbeing,
including: physical and mental health, sexual satisfaction, family income, and
children’s outcomes. Of the numerous articles we evaluated, only three did not note
a marriage benefit.
Further,
although not all articles assessed the same subject groups, there is a
progressive trend of enhanced wellbeing and its associated parameters, the
stronger the relationship commitment; generally manifested by the following:
·
Never
married, widowed and divorced individuals show the lowest wellbeing.
·
Individuals
in a committed relationship, even unmarried, have improved wellbeing compared
to uncommitted couples.
·
Cohabitating
couples demonstrate improved wellbeing compared to those not in a relationship.
·
Cohabitating
couples who are committed enjoy greater wellbeing than uncommitted cohabitating
relationships.
·
Married
couples show the highest wellbeing ratings compared to other commitment levels
and singles.
Why
would traditional marriage relationships provide the strongest associated
wellbeing with levels decreasing with less committed relationships? The answer
is not completely clear, but we speculate marriage may:
·
Help
with income, reducing costs, household tasks, and raising children.
·
Provide
needed socialization and a potential source of personal enrichment,
encouragement and empathy.
·
Allow
confidence and trust in a spouse in discussing sensitive issues and reaching personal
as well as professional goals.
·
Assist
the marriage partner in maintaining good health such as in keeping medical
appointments, taking medicines and achieving a healthy lifestyle
·
Facilitate
sexual satisfaction by eliminating competing love interests.
·
Build
a healthy spiritual relationship by encouraging mutual adherence to the
Christian faith and in studying God’s word. One past study indicated that
marriage increased the probability for attending religious services. However, a
cohabitation alone reduced the probability of attending church.
Our
review suggests that traditional marriage generally provides numerous benefits
to the relationship partners through enhanced measures of mental and physical wellbeing,
and benefits to their children compared to other heterosexual partnership
arrangements or single status.
We have
a great God who has instituted marriage out of His wisdom and for our good. It works best in a committed, encouraging relationship
which promotes many aspects of wellbeing including our Christian lifestyle, which
as we've seen in recent past blogs, has its own positive impact on wellbeing.
Please
join us again next week as we continue through exploring Teleios research that
can help our daily lives.
WC
Stewart
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