8 Lessons in Love From the World’s Happiest Couples

Brandon SpecktorUpdated: Mar. 16, 2022

With the help of a few sociologists (and Reader's Digest), author Chrisanna Northrup interviewed more than 80,000 people around the world to compile some quantitative data on love, marriage, sex, trust, and more. Here are the top lessons learned from the couples who ranked themselves happiest.

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You don’t have to share everything.

Over one quarter of the happiest couples say they keep secrets from each other.

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Fighting can help work things out.

Seventy-eight percent of the happiest couples argue occasionally. The lesson: Couples who never fight may be avoiding conversations they need to have to forge an intimate relationship.

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Find activities and passions you both enjoy.

Of the 45 percent of people who say they have a lot in common with their partners, 95 percent describe their relationships as extremely happy.

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Respect your marriage bed.

Only one percent of the happiest partners say they’ve ever slept on the sofa.

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Talk to each other. Often.

Forty percent of the happiest couples say that communication—more than friendship, affection, or even sex—is the most satisfying part of the relationship.