I generally regard “social science” research with approximately the same level of scepticism as I do emails from alleged Nigerian princes, or Indian-accented chaps ringing me up and offering to fix non-existent problems with my computer. Still, some studies are just too amusing not to pass on to Whaleoil readers.
It’s no secret that Oilers lean to the right side of the fence. In which case, it appears that Whaleoil is being read in a lot of very happy homes. quote.
Extremely conservative men have the happiest wives, according to a new study by the Institute for Family Studies and the Wheatley Institution.
Fully 72 percent of women lucky enough to be married to such men report being “very happy,” the researchers found. Men who are extremely liberal came in a distant second despite presumably being male feminists. end quote.
Well, I mean, what woman wouldn’t be satisfied, married to these strapping figures of manhood? quote.
In a New York Times op-ed published Saturday, three of the authors of the study – two sociologist and a marriage expert – pointed out that their results fly in the face of elite conventional wisdom.
“Couples who live according to egalitarian values, sharing domestic responsibilities like housework and cooking, have long been seen as superior by most academics, journalists and public intellectuals engaged in the national conversation about the American family,” they said.
But after analyzing data on women in heterosexual relationships in 11 developed countries, including the United States, the researchers discovered otherwise.
“When it comes to relationship quality, there is a J-curve in women’s marital happiness, with women on the left and the right enjoying higher quality marriages than those in the middle — but especially wives on the right,” they said. end quote.
Conservative commentators such as Theodore Dalrymple in Britain and Thomas Sowell in the US have long blamed leftist social policies for devastating working-class families and communities in particular. Cradle-to-grave welfare had encouraged family breakdown, not least by creating a generation of feckless men.
quote.
The researchers hypothesized that conservative men tend to have a faith-based commitment to family, which feminism imbues in secular men in a different way and to a lesser degree.
“Both feminism and faith give family men a clear code: They are supposed to play a big role in their kids’ lives,” they said. “Devoted dads are de rigueur in these two communities. And it shows: Both culturally progressive and religiously conservative fathers report high levels of paternal engagement.”
To explain the relatively unhappy wives of the religious and ideological middle, the researchers pointed to a lack of religious life on one hand, and their husband’s failure to get fully woke on the other. end quote.
Of course, the “liberal” left greeted this revelation with their usual rationality and goodwill. quote.
But liberals were outraged. Many suggested that Christian women are too brainwashed to realize they’re unhappy.
Conservatives pushed back on the outpouring of liberal bitterness, with some suggesting maybe the commenters weren’t so happy with their relationships. end quote.
Well, as they say: perhaps the reason feminists and celebrities think that all men are rapists and abusers is because they judge everyone else by the company they choose to keep.