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Why it takes humour to sustain a long-term relationship | Psyche Ideas

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Enrico Gnaulatiis a clinical psychologist based in Pasadena, California, and affiliate professor of psychology at Seattle University. He is a humanistic reformer of mental health practice and policy who has authored four books as well as many articles in academic journals and popular magazines, such as The Atlantic and Salon. His latest book is Flourishing Love: A Secular Guide to Lasting Intimate Relationships (2023). Edited by Christian Jarrett Save Share Tweet Email From an evolutionary perspective, we’re poorly equipped to navigate the kind of extremely long-term intimate partnerships that many people today aspire to. Nowadays, the average age of first marriage in many countries around the world is in the 20s. Assuming these newlyweds live into their 70s or 80s (thanks to advances in modern medicine), and bullishly aspire to a life-long commitment, this would put their projected marriage length close to the 60-year range – far longer than the relationships experienced by the majori

From an evolutionary perspective, we’re poorly equipped to navigate the kind of extremely long-term intimate partnerships that many people today aspire to. Nowadays, the average age of first marriage in many countries around the world is in the 20s. Assuming these newlyweds live into their 70s or 80s (thanks to advances in modern medicine), and bullishly aspire to a life-long commitment, this would put their projected marriage length close to the 60-year range – far longer than the relationships experienced by the majority of humans for most of history. The comedian Wanda Sykes put it less…

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