Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
Bill McGurn ·
May 18, 2011 at 12:16pm
Headline in USA Today: "Men relax best when wives are busy."
Household chores often get in the way when dual-earner couples want to unwind after a stress-filled day on the job. Now, a new study shows that while wives' stress levels drop when their husbands are helping them with chores, for men it's the opposite: stress levels fall when their wives are busy while they're relaxing.
- Comment (15)
- · Quote
- · UnfollowFollow (3)
Comments :
Apr '11
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
D'oh
No kidding? (sarcasm)
Who paid for this "study"?
May '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
The Institute for the Blatantly Obvious
May '11
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
As Dennis Prager always said, all of the "studies" published just state what is obvious to most people.
May '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
Unfortunately, yes. Because the feminist dogma from the 70s (namely, that men and women are exactly alike except for their genitalia) has still not died. It took decades of research to rediscover what people knew before but had decided was politically incorrect: men and women are different.
You still see the dogma rearing its head from time to time in spite of all the scientific research showing there are fundamental, hard-wired differences in the sexes. When it does rear its head, beat it down with a study like this.
May '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
However, I can tell you that when I help my wife with chores, my stress level goes down-- in the long run. ;-)
May '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
As the comedian Jeff Allen puts it, "Happy wife, happy life."
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
I'm sure Mr. and Mrs. Robinson are the exception to this rule.
Jan '11
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
When an academic 'discovers' what us mere mortals have known for eons, it's called 'social science'.
May '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
I looked at the article, and it doesn't address what happens when the man is doing chores and the woman is relaxing. I bet her cortisol levels (stress levels) went down significantly in that situation, while the man's skyrocketed! (Again, though, they don't even mention this particular scenario. Wonder why?)
In other words, I can think of the following situations:
It does seem incomplete to consider only situations 1 and 2. Perhaps the study considered all cases, but USA Today only mentions the results for 1 and 2. Or perhaps there just weren't enough of case 3 and 4 to be studied?
Edited on May 18, 2011 at 1:19pmJul '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
This study is pure rubbish. My mother flips out whenever my father and I try and cook something. Something about getting her kitchen dirty...
Jun '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
This just in from Dave Barry in response to the question "Why don't men listen to women?":
"They do listen. But they listen for specific information. Men are problem-solvers. Thay are doers. When you talk to them, they are listening to determine (a) what the problem is, (b) what they need to do about it, so that they can (c) resume watching ESPN. When they have the information they need, they stop listening."
Some things are just so obvious that there's no need for a scientific study.
Jul '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
Well, as a guy who spent many years as a self-sufficient, neatnik bachelor, I discovered that maintaining a household for two is no more arduous than maintaining a household for one. I'm happy to do the household chores, cooking and shopping so my lovely wife, who works very hard, can relax and devote her time to caring for herself.
I guess when you throw kids into the mix, that all changes. But that's one of the reasons I never wanted kids.
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
The opposite is true here: I see my wife working, and wonder if I should be doing something. Anything. Men aren't supposed to ask if they should be helping; they're supposed to know, perhaps by telepathy, and do it. I'm most relaxed when she's relaxed, and suspect that the men who are relaxed when their spouse is toiling isn't picking up the spiky rays intended to poke him off his duff and, if not help, do something of equal importance.
Oct '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
Thank you, James, for saving me the trouble of having to write more than, "thank you, James." Spot-on.
"I'm most relaxed when she's relaxed." Exactly.
Dec '10
Re: Did We Really Need a Study to Tell Us This?
I tend to side with Chris and James. If She is futzing around with art projects or surfing the net, I can relax, but if She is being industrious, then I had better get off my duff.
I tend to do much more around the house, on an hourly basis, but I have to maintain my credit balance. You see, there is little chance that I am going to wake up and spend the rest of the entire night up with a sick child, as She will and the kids would prefer it that way. For some reason, the children do not appreciate my bedside manner as much as hers and tend to resent it if I suggest that they toughen up and walk it off, when they have nausea or pain. She deals with those things, mostly, so I have to keep ahead of her on the other stuff.