Ohm-itting Myths From Your Repertoire

By Sarah Hourany

Single Versus Married Stats

The Truth is beyond comprehension according to the ancient sages, but that doesn't stop us from seeing its manifestations through meditation on Ohm that allows us to approach the Absolute, step by step, before reaching the state of awakening. At RAGMAG, we too think that the truth isn't crystal clear, and that is why we always use reasoning and empirical evidence to guide you to it.
If you believe, when it comes to relationships, that when the princess rejected the prince's proposal, he "lived happily ever after and rode motorcycles and slept with cute skinny girls and hunted and raced cars and went to naked bars and dated women half his age and drank beer, and never heard bitching and went to rock concerts and kept his apartment and favorite jeans and never got cheated on while working and all his family and friends thought he was fucking cool as hell and had tons of money and left the toilet seat up"*, keep reading, because we are about to guide you to the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth! And you won't even have to chant after us to get there!

TONS OF MONEY MYTH
Who said you'd actually be wealthier living on your own? In a survey conducted by the National Institute on Aging on 12,000 people between 51 and 61 years-old, results showed that married people have more than twice as much money, on average, compared to unmarried people. Not only they did save more enjoying economies of scale but married men alone were proven to earn 26 percent more than single men with similar results for married women. These results were confirmed by another study conducted by Jay Zagorsky, a research scientist at OSU's Center for Human Resource Research, who tracked the wealth and marital status of 9,055 people from 1985 to 2000, deducing that married people's financial progress is about 93 percent faster than singles or divorcees. In fact, people seem to be more productive economically after they marry: they work harder, advance further in their jobs, save more, and invest wisely perhaps because "they are now working for something larger than themselves. They are working for a family," as the co-director of the National Marriage Project at Rutgers University, David Popenoe, explains.

Mon amour mon amiNEVER HEARD BITCHING MYTH
If you think being single will help you stress less and live more, then check the world health reports. According to recent emotional health tests, marrieds enjoy a high level of psychological wellbeing and are less likely to experience depression compared to singles. Their overall health is statistically better as they are less likely to suffer from cardiovascular diseases. An interesting body of research related to this specific point tackles the success of a kidney transplant for marrieds compared to singles. Researchers found that people with kidney failure who were married or divorced (or separated) were more than 50 percent as likely to be placed on a waiting list for a new kidney as never-married people. Those who were married were also 28 percent more likely to receive the organ, relative to single people on the list and tended to fare better than single transplant recipients. According to Dr. Laura Taylor of the John Hopkins University School of Nursing, these results make sense as being married gives patients team support. From the complicated diet, medications, and treatment to attending appointments, a married patient is in a better shape (mentally and physically) to receive the transplant. Hence, having better access to healthcare and better health overall, it's no wonder that married people enjoy the "marriage mortality benefit", an empirically proven advantage that married people live longer. In a U.S. research study conducted on a large sample of adults followed for 18 years beginning at the age of 48, approximately 60 percent of divorced and never-married women barely made it to 65, in comparison to almost 90 percent of married women. Results were similar among men: widowed, divorced or never married men had between 60 and 70 percent chance to live until 65 compared to 90 percent for married men.

SLEPT WITH CUTE SKINNY GIRLS MYTH
The most common misconception among single men is that they have a better sex life compared to their married counterparts. Here's the truth: married people have more and better sex. According to Dr. Linda Waite, professor of sociology, married people have sex twice as much as single people. Her findings were corroborated by another study done by the Kinsey Institute that concludes that 23 percent of single men periodically go a year without sex, compared to only 1 percent of married men. Similarly, while 19 percent of single guys have sex two to three times weekly, 36 percent of married men have sex just as often. And that's not all. Married people get more emotional satisfaction from sexual intercourse. The commitment, security and sexual frequency that marriage provides increases sexual satisfaction, studies report. Long and stable relationships lead to sexual experimentation and thus makes the relationship more enjoyable. "People who are committed to a partner get more than sex out of sex," according to Dr. Waite.

Mon amour mon amiHAPPILY EVER AFTER MYTH
You're not likely to live "happily" now or ever after if you're not married. In a recent research study done by a doctoral candidate at Australian National University on 5,000 people across the nation, married men were found to be 135 percent more likely to report a high happiness score than single men, while married women were 52 percent happier than single women. Similarly, a longitudinal survey on 14,000 adults over a 10 year period, published in 2000, found that marital status was one of the most important predictors of happiness. According to the latest data, 40 percent of married individuals said they were very happy with their life in general, compared with just under 25 percent of those who were single or cohabiting. In a 2005 study, married people reported the highest levels of wellbeing, regardless of whether they were happily married or not. So even when controlling for relationship happiness, being married is associated with higher self-esteem, greater life satisfaction, greater happiness and less distress.

COOL AS HELL MYTH
In addition to its positive contributions to your emotional and financial status, marriage can also make you feel safer. Moderate domestic violence occurs half as often when a couple is married rather than living together. In parallel, single and divorced women are four to five times more likely to be victims of violence in any given year than married women while bachelors are four times more likely to be violentcrime victims than husbands. Marriage also reduces the likelihood of criminal behaviors among men: When studying the behavior of 475 high-risk adolescent boys throughout their adulthood, researchers found that marriage reduces criminal behavior by 35 percent. Similarly, when comparing the behavior of identical twins to have a better analysis of the role of marriage, the research revealed that once men marry, they settle down and their antisocial behavior decreases by 30 percent.

This does not mean we want you to grab the next random person and get hitched, but rather to help you ohmit the "single and happy" myth that is blocking you from reaching what some consider a state of stability and happiness. So next time you meet "THE ONE", think twice about declining a ring for your fourth finger.

*Taken from a hugely popular Facebook post making the rounds.