A New Study Finds Watching Some Movies Together Can Help Your Marriage

Marriage isn't easy. Just ask any married couple. The amount of work it takes to keep a relationship going over many years is vast. That's why the old stat of 50 percent of marriages ending in divorce rings true. It's an easy and believable number. In reality, divorce rate depends on how long someone is married. Within the first 10 years? Only 29 percent of marriages end in divorce. The longer they go, however, the more likely it is they get separated. But maybe if those couples had simply watched some terrible movies when they first said their vows, their marriages would still be intact. It sounds stupid, but researchers say it just might work.

According to a team of researchers from the University of Rochester, couples that watch and then discuss movies about relationships get divorced less often. In an experiment involving 174 married couples, the couples who watched and talked about the movies had their divorce rates drop to 11 percent, down from 24 percent, during the first three years of marriage.

To come to this conclusion, the team of experts sent the newlyweds to one of three groups: "conflict management," "compassion and acceptance training," and "relationship awareness through film." The first two groups of couples went through traditional methods for solving conflicts and extending empathy toward partners in a long term relationship. You know these types of things: The husband says something about the way he feels, the wife echoes back what she's hearing, they discuss the differences, etc.

Comparatively, the movie group viewed Two for the Road, a romantic comedy from the late 60s' about the ups and downs of marriage. Afterward, each had to discuss a set of 12 questions about the movie, like "Were they [the film's characters] able to open up and tell each other how they really felt, or did they tend to just snap at each other with anger?" The couples were also asked to discuss how the film was like their lives. They were then given a list of nearly 50 other films that features a couple at the center of the plot with directions to watch one a week and go over a pre-arranged list of similar questions together after each viewing.

After reviewing the data, which was recently published in last month's Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, the researchers were surprised to learn that each method of counseling was effective. Therefore, instead of going to an expensive therapist, perhaps all you need to do to make a marriage work is watch a movie and talk about it.

"It's incredibly portable," psychology professor Ronald Rouge, who led the team, explained in a news release on the university's website. "There are really great marriage intervention programs available now but most require trained therapists to administer them. If couples can do this on their own, it makes it so much easier to help them."

The only question? Is watching a crappy movie better than going to counseling? You tell us. Couples can try the study's movie-then-talk method at home with the same list of films and questions used by the Rouge and his team. You can even volunteer to participate in an additional study via this link. Just don't blame us if the end of Steel Magnolias makes you cry.