Honesty, compromise – and at least two TVs in the home have been named among the top secrets to a happy marriage, a study has revealed.
Researchers polled 2,000 happily married Brits and found that alongside the more well-known tips, these couples also suggest having two cars, two toilets or bathrooms and at least one night a week away from computers or tablets.
Getting on with each other’s friends and family, having no ex-partners on your Facebook friends list and separate bank accounts also feature in the top 50 secrets.
Blissful couples also say trust, remembering birthdays and anniversaries and saying ‘I love you’ regularly also help keep a relationship happy and harmonious.
Andy Gibney, author of How to Seduce Your Wife (or Anyone Else’s) said: ”Trust, comprise and honesty are generally regarded as the most important things in a marriage, but for most people, it’s not that simple.
“In the modern world, marriages are having to survive against a host of new technology with many couple falling out over what to watch on the TV or one or both of you spending too much time focusing on your computers, tablets or mobile phones.
“Romance is also an important factor, whether this is a surprise gift, a date night or simply some quality time together.
“After being married for a while, it’s easy to find you are stuck in a rut and not really paying each other any attention, but hopefully some of these ‘secrets’ will help your marriage to be a long and happy one.’’
Trusting each other came top of the list, followed by having the same sense of humour, always being honest with each other and remembering each other’s birthdays and important anniversaries.
Accepting each other’s faults came fifth.
Compromising, saying ‘I love you’ regularly , knowing when to say sorry, being able to laugh at each other and having a similar outlook on life complete the top ten.
Blissful couples also recommend regular hugs and cuddles, always kissing each other goodnight and in the mornings before leaving the house and surprising your other half with the occasional romantic gesture.
Considering your partner to be your best friend, sharing parenting duties equally and having at least some shared hobbies or interests also feature high on the list.
Talking about a problem instead of bottling it up, asking how your partner’s day has gone and having regular sex completed the top twenty.
But in order to cut down on the disagreements, the secrets to a happy marriage also include no hogging the remote, having two TVs in the house to avoid any clashes over what to watch and each person having their own car.
Being happy to share your phone code or social media passwords with your partner also leads to a happy marriage.
The top fifty also includes never going to sleep on an argument and surprise gifts.
It also emerged that three quarters of people think you are more likely to have a happy and successful marriage if you are friends before becoming an item, while 95 per cent consider romance to be important.
But less than one in ten want the traditional flowers and chocolates, with 29 per cent just wanting a little surprise from their partner every now and then.
Another 21 per cent see it as a romantic gesture if it’s something which is personal to them as a person or a couple, while one in four just enjoy the small gestures such as holding hands in public.
Andy Gibney author of How to Seduce Your Wife (or Anyone Else’s) added: ‘’It should be obvious that it is communication that keeps people together, whether that’s verbal or non-verbal, but life has a way of getting in the way.
The research, and the message in the book, is keep talking, keep laughing, keep doing the things that made you happy at the start of your relationship and never lose it.
Keep the respect, keep the kissing and the intimacy and, above all, remember why you fell in love in the first place.”
