Marrying Your Best Friend: For Better or Worse?

Spouses consider each other the best of friends but can the best of friends become the best spouses? The topic is not a favorite research material but there is one study which shows that the difference among those who consider their spouse their best friend and those who believe that marriage and friendship should be separated is very significant.

Psychology Today said a study on happiness was made by Shawn Grover and University of Vancouver professor John Helliwell. The data used in the research came from the Gallup World Poll, the United Kingdom's Annual Population Survey and the British Household Panel Survey. The researchers found out that couples who said their spouses were also their best friends have a higher satisfaction in both life and marriage. The researchers also found out that it is important for spouses to have partners they can talk to and share life's joys and challenges.

Shelley Whitehead however believes that it is not wise to marry one\s best friend. Her husband left her for another woman but what made it more painful was the realization that she had not only lost her husband but also her best friend. Daily Mail said Whitehead could not help but wonder if she would still have her best friend beside her had they kept the love platonic. Unfortunately, there is no going back once the relationship is changed from merely best friends to lovers.

The Marriage and Family Clinic said the idea of marrying one's best friend could be romantic but many bad things could happen as a result of this. Marriage is something that transcends friendship as it is a deeper relationship that could only mean love, not the same as the affection one feels for a friend. One enjoys a platonic relationship with a friend while one establishes an intimate and passionate relationship with one's spouse. Friendships can come and go but a marriage should last.