Coupled Up? This Is The Type Of Relationship That Lasts The Longest, Apparently

Relationships are a tricky business, and knowing where exactly they’re headed, or indeed how long they’re going to last is any gal’s guess.

But if you’re questioning the longevity of your couple status, then a study conducted by Brian Ogolsky of the University Of Illinois has unearthed some very interesting facts for you. According to Professor Ogolsky, couples can be categorised into four different relationship types and there’s one type in particular that has a much higher chance of lasting and even ending in marriage.

The first step to figuring out if you and your SO will go the distance? Sussing out which category you fall into. Over the course, of nine months, the study interviewed 374 couples in their mid-twenties, to come up with these four distinct relationship groups.

Group 1: Dramatic

This is the group who spent the least amount of time together, and also had a lot of ups throughout the nine months and a lot of downs too, going from one extreme to the other very quickly.

Group 2: Partner-focused

In Professor Ogolsky’s study, these were the couples who fought the most. Despite this, their relationships were still a good bit more stable than the dramatic folks mentioned above.

Group 3: Socially involved

Next up were the couples who were constantly interacting with each other on their social media accounts.

Group 4: Conflict-ridden

Finally, conflict-ridden couples were the group who had the most amount of silly arguments throughout the nine months. Despite this, they still valued their partners above anything else.

So, which group is destined for a lengthy relationship?

By the end of the nine months, the study found that, unsurprisingly the dramatic couples were the most likely to go their separate ways, while the socially involved group, AKA the couple constantly oversharing their love life online, came in a close second.

For the conflict-ridden group (i.e. the couple who sweats the small stuff) the study found they had regular drops in their commitment levels, which lessened the likelihood of them staying together.

The all-out winner, though? It was the partner-focused group who won out, showing the highest level of positive interaction, regardless of their regular fights, and demonstrating the strongest chance of staying together, and eventually getting married. Congrats, you guys.

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