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Beware of five-year itch

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Unmarried couples to get equal rights

The age-old phenomenon of the seven-year itch has been thrown out the window; apparently married couples should be more concerned about hitting the five-year landmark.

A psychologist has claimed we are starting to become disgruntled with our partners much sooner into our relationships.

Professor Daniel Kahneman puts our itchy feet down to a number of reasons, one being a 'limited attention span' which he says is down to the ever more impatient society we live in.

The study conducted involved 15,000 of couples and revealed the optimistic feelings of happiness that marriage brings are short-lived.

The 'honeymoon' phase dwindles after the first two years of marriage and four to five years in, our satisfaction levels are back to where they began.

Prof. Kahneman explained that the rush of excitement of falling in love and planning a wedding provide levels of stimulation that increase our satisfaction levels.

However due to the 'limited nature of the human attention span' these feelings of elation cannot be sustained.

Suggestions to extend the 'highs' of marriage included mental exercises, much like the recommended 30 minutes of daily exercise for general health.

However, Professor Kahneman's top tip to avoid the five-year itch? 'Counting your blessings is probably the best approach to take.'

Thursday 3 April 2008

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I THINK THAT'S THE SAME IN ANY RELATIONSHIP WHETHER MARRIED OR NOT
Comment by CAROLINE on April 03 10:18

Interesting, but after 24 years of marriage I think I'm safe. They weren't always good ones but we stuck it out.
Comment by Emma Eager on April 03 10:46