Neurotic Men Improve the Health of Women, But Not Vice Versa

By John Farrier in Health on Apr 30, 2009 at 5:20 pm

This is excellent news for my wife. Psychological researchers have discovered that women gain a health benefit by living with neurotic men:

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Conscientiousness is a good thing in a mate, researchers report, not just because it’s easier to live with someone who washes the dishes without being asked, but also because having a conscientious partner may actually be good for one’s health. Their study, of adults over age 50, also found that women, but not men, get an added health benefit when paired with someone who is conscientious and neurotic.

This is the first large-scale analysis of what the authors call the “compensatory conscientiousness effect,” the boost in health reported by those with conscientious spouses or romantic partners. The study appears this month in Psychological Science.

Link via Instapundit

Image via flickr user Mr. Greenjeans


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  1. seefish3
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 5:35 pm

    What the HELL is that image!!???

  2. Bonehead108
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 5:38 pm

    I’m going to go with seefish3 on this one. That’s just creepy.

  3. John
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 6:01 pm

    Coming up with images for Neatorama posts is rather tricky. I can either:

    1. Take a picture myself.

    2. Use an image from the article that I link to.

    3. Find a relevant image through a Creative Commons search.

    I chose #3 for this post. Then I have to verify it is really under a shared license, save it, load it into my own flickr account, post it, fit the dimensions into Neatorama’s style guide, find the original user, and link to him.

    This image was returned when I searched for the term “neurotic”, and as the photographer explained it, it kinda made sense. It’s a person whose mind is being pulled in many different directions at once.

    Maybe I could have kept searching for something better, but I didn’t have time. Or didn’t make time.

  4. Sunny
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 7:04 pm

    I get it, but it is really squickin’ me out.

  5. seefish3
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 7:06 pm

    No criticism intended, John. Not sure why it struck such a chord.
    It’s just pretty freakish…

    What a wild search response!

  6. Alex
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 7:15 pm

    Soon-yi Previn must be healthy as a horse!

  7. Nate
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 7:51 pm

    When I first saw that picture I instantly thought “that looks like [Radiohead singer] Thom Yorke!” It would’ve been a perfect fit for the article’s subject matter.

    Following the link to Mr. Greenjeans’s Flickr account…turns out it’s a “cast” of someone’s face, found in the backyard of his customer.

    Oh well. An interesting picture for an interesting article!

  8. jmop
    Apr 30th, 2009 at 7:54 pm

    That image made my heart flip and stomach turn; a total reaction to the abject! Was not expecting /that/ at 1:50 in the morning… It was like drinking a very strong cup of coffee very, very quickly.

    Thank goodness I live with a conscientious neurotic; or maybe I’d be dead!

  9. ted
    May 1st, 2009 at 9:35 am

    Don’t know what the fuss is about with that picture. People sure are neurotic about it.

  10. Larfin Jackarse
    May 4th, 2009 at 3:59 am

    Cool can I haz grrlfrend pls

  11. Symtex
    May 7th, 2009 at 7:36 pm

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