Yes, we know that for a relationship to (happily) go the distance, that communication, respect, and love are all key factors in a strong foundation.

Yet, a study into heterosexual couples has uncovered a positive correlation between a husband’s height and a wife’s happiness. In fact, the study claims that the greater the height difference in a couple, the happier they are… although the effect fades over time. The study, which gathered long-term data from 7,850 married women, was conducted by researcher Kitae Sohn from Konkuk University in Seoul, South Korea. Sohn refers to the evolutionary theory that women prefer tall men in mating stating:

“Although it has been known that women prefer tall men in mating for evolutionary reasons, no study has investigated whether a taller husband makes his wife happier. “One [reason for its conclusion] is the intrinsic value of height; that is, women simply like tall men, while unable to say why. This is similar to people favouring fatty, salty, and sugary foods without knowing exactly why: such foods are essential to survival but were scarce as humans evolved — hence craving such foods increased reproductive fitness in the past.”

However, the height factor fell short by the 18^th year of a couple's marriage. The results come just a week after a study pointed to a man’s height as having a significant effect on the number of sexual partners he’s likely to have – with shorter men tending to have between one and three fewer sexual partners than taller men. However, take some comfort from the fact that David Frederick, Ph.D. revealed to Men’s Health, that the most important quality people rated in a partner was:

“Men and women both report that their top quality in a long-term partner is someone who is genuinely kind and understanding.”