Getting drunk with your partner could be the secret to a happy relationship

Crack open a bottle of wine, because a study has revealed that couples that enjoy a drink together have better relationships. 

The research, published in The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Series, found that couples who get drunk and socialise together tend to have stronger, longer-lasting relationships.

It’s not bad news for couples that don’t drink at all though – the study discovered that if both members of the couple don’t drink then that is also a positive towards a healthy relationship.

So if you drink and your partner both drink? Sound.

Are you teetotal and your partner also prefers soft drinks with dinner? Also sound.

Are you a “Frank the Tank”, but have a partner that’s more into peppermint tea? The study says you might have an issue. 

The study was comprehensive, with University of Michigan researchers asking 4,864 married people (on average the couples had been together for 33 years) about how often they drink and how often they go ‘out out’.

"We're not sure why this is happening," Dr. Kira Birditt, one of the lead researchers. "But it could be that couples that do more leisure time activities together have better marital quality.

"The study shows that it's not about how much they're drinking, it's about whether they drink at all."

To review, having a shared hobby with your partner helps marriage – and drinking together counts as one of those hobbies. It’s all to do with personality types really, as people who drink similar amounts and have similar interests are much more likely to get on than people who have wildly different ideas of what makes a good Saturday night and share zero hobbies.

So, sitting down and getting through a bottle of wine or two with your partner is healthy – maybe not for your bodies, but for your relationship. 

Of course, there are limits, though. As Dr. Fred Blow said in the report: "Serious heavy drinkers have disruptive relationships with people, particularly their partners. That's an important issue that should be looked at going forward.”