Does a Woman’s Education Help or Hurt in Relationships?
Jasbina Ahluwalia interviews Dr Terri Orbuch.
I’m very excited to welcome to todays show Dr. Terri Orbuch. Dr. Orbuch, also known as “The Love Doctor”, is a world renowned relationship expert, author, speaker, therapist, coach, distinguished professor at Oakland University, research scientist at the University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research and media personality. She’s also the director of a landmark study funded by the National Institute of Health (NIH), where she’s been following the same couples for over 30 years. Her 2 best-selling books are “5 Simple Steps To Take Your Marriage From Good To Great” and “Finding Love Again: 6 Simple Steps To a New and Happy Relationship”.
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Jasbina:
Terri, our female clients tend to be highly educated, and our male clients, generally they seek that beauty and the brains, they want it all, the beauty of the brain.
What does science, what does your study say regarding a woman’s level of education and the chances of the relationship lasting and the relationship longevity, any correlations there at all?
Terri:
Yes. Jasbina, it’s not actually even a correlation. It’s a cause and an effect, which is fascinating. Yeah, even better. Because otherwise we don’t know the relationship’s direction, and that’s why I love this finding.
It was surprising in my study as I’ve followed these couples over time. When the females had a higher education, that couple was more likely to stay together over time.
I know this is a very controversial finding and it’s not always the same in other studies, but what I found is that women who are highly educated, one, were much more likely to have opportunities to seek self-help, read books, get information to improve their relationship. They were more likely to talk to other people, go into counseling, read self-help books, go to religious advisors, and that helped the relationship.
They were also more likely then to use the strategies that they found as they went outside the relationship to get help, if there were issues or problems, or just to have a tune up or improve the relationship, which then in fact helped the relationship over time.
So, highly educated women, or the more education a woman has, the more likely the relationship is to stay over the long haul.
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The above is an excerpt from Jasbina’s interview with Dr. Terri Orbuch
The entire interview transcript is at – Dating and Relationship Advice from The Love Doctor, Dr Terri Orbuch
