Ask any husband, and he’ll tell you this truth: “Happy wife… happy life.”

You don’t believe?

Think about the established couples you know. Spend a little time considering the wife’s disposition and then the husband’s. Chances are, the more contented men you know might be a little more invested in pleasing their beloved and seem more relaxed when all is well with their brides.

Many men who challenge that old “happy wife” adage are likely setting themselves up for a houseful of tension, a host of daily communication miseries, or even worse, a slow walk through resentment toward divorce court! No doubt, a happy wife is important to a married man.

In case you think this is overstated, consider the findings of a recent study published in the 2014 Fall installment of the Journal of Marriage and Family.

Titled “Happy Marriage, Happy Life? Marital Quality and Subjective Well-being in Later Life,” the Rutgers University study examined the effects of spousal appraisal on mutual marital happiness.

Researchers investigated the connections between the relationship quality, level of life satisfaction, and a general sense of well-being reported among husbands and wives as it pertains to the perceived satisfaction of their spouses.

Basically, they wanted to know whether “mama” had to be happy for “daddy” to be happy.

And if can we say that is the case, then is the reverse then true?

If daddy ain’t happy, does that then mean that mama will feel pretty low too?

Well, according to the study, the good news is that marital satisfaction is very important to both genders.

And a husband’s sense of life satisfaction and his feelings about the quality of the marriage itself are impacted considerably by his wife’s appraisal of their union.

His outlook is rosy and spirits are high “when his wife reports a happy marriage, yet flattened when his wife reports low marital quality,” note the findings.

A happy wife actually turns out to be a significant factor in the emotional and mental health of a married man, helping to support a healthier, less stressful lifestyle.

Apparently, however, the “happy spouse” scenario only works one way.

Research indicates that while happy husbands are a good thing, they are not particularly influential as far as their wives’ levels of life satisfaction go.

Why is that?

At first glance, it all seems a bit cold hearted.

Are wives generally insensitive or somehow emotionally closed off?

Of course not! Actually, wives may simply feel less affected by their husband’s happiness or discontent because they have less emotional information to work with.

“I think it comes down to the fact that when a wife is satisfied with the marriage she tends to do a lot more for her husband, which has a positive effect on his life,” noted Deborah Carr, one of the study’s lead researchers. “Men tend to be less vocal about their relationships and their level of marital unhappiness might not be translated to their wives.”

Simply put, men are less inclined to share their feelings.

Typically, husbands don’t share their happy (or unhappy) thoughts much. Therefore, wives aren’t particularly inclined to gauge their own feelings and life satisfaction by something they don’t see or hear on a regular basis.

Of course, all men are not the same. But on the whole, women tend to be a bit more emotionally expressive, providing a wealth of marital appraisals that influence their husbands thinking and emotions, but may receive very little of the same feedback in return.

On the whole, marital satisfaction for both a happy wife and a happy husband can be encouraged through efficient, productive, and compassionate communication throughout the life of their relationship. If you want to improve your communication skills, or need a few more tools to keep your commitment solid, reach out to a couple’s counselor who can help you secure your happiness for a lifetime.