Latest news with #satisfaction
Yahoo
17 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Research shows it's normal for relationship satisfaction to vary lots
You may find it reassuring to learn that often, people's satisfaction levels vary quite a lot within a relationship, even within a short space of time, a new study says. Satisfaction with your partner or relationship can fluctuate significantly within a few days or even within a single day, according to a psychological study carried out in Germany. This finding could help to better support couples, by showing them in therapy that fluctuating satisfaction is perfectly normal to a certain extent and does not necessarily jeopardise a relationship. Be clear about your own needs At the same time, experiencing fluctuations in satisfaction can show couples in romantic relationships that their needs are not being fully met - so could be a signal that improvement is needed. "To this end, partners should be clear about their needs and express them appropriately," says psychologist Louisa Scheling, lead author of the University of Mainz study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The extent to which the partner is perceived as approachable or responsive has a significant influence on satisfaction. A certain "emotional instability in men" also has a significant effect, the study says. That may be because women are more accustomed to emotional fluctuations due to their hormonal cycles. In men, on the other hand, emotional instability tends to be attributed to relationship dynamics, the authors say. "Reliable perception and fulfilment of needs by the partner contributes significantly to stable relationship satisfaction in everyday life," says Scheling. Ultimately, it is similar to a parent-child relationship, she adds. "If needs are consistently met, then satisfaction remains stable at a high level." Variation greater between days than within one day The study found relationship satisfaction varied significantly between days and within each day. The variance between days was greater than within a single day. It also showed that the ups and downs in satisfaction among partners were relatively synchronised and that varying satisfaction was not related to demographic factors, meaning that it is a common experience for most couples, even those who have been in a relationship for a long time. Up until now, research has so far focused on how satisfaction with a relationship develops over months and years, the study says. However, since romantic relationships develop in everyday life, it is crucial to also examine satisfaction and fluctuations within short periods of time – given that in Western countries, one in three marriages end in divorce, meaning that many relationships break down. Scheling and her team of scientists, who collaborated with other research institutions, evaluated data from two previous studies involving couples consisting of one man and one woman. Data from a study conducted by the University of Basel between 2016 and 2018 included information from nearly 600 couples who recorded their satisfaction levels in several waves. Participants were couples from Switzerland, Austria and Germany over the age of 18 who had been together for at least one month. The other online study, conducted by the Universities of Mainz and Heidelberg between 2021 and 2023, included data from 150 couples who were asked about their satisfaction several times a day. In this study, the participants were couples who had only moved in together in the past four weeks.
CTV News
10-06-2025
- Business
- CTV News
Majority of Atlantic Canadians satisfied with their governments: study
Nova Scotia Lt.-Gov. Arthur LeBlanc reads the speech from throne at Province House in Halifax on Tuesday, Oct. 12, 2021. Despite the ongoing tumult of tariffs, food insecurity and the cost of living, most Atlantic Canadians are satisfied with their provincial governments, according to a new study. Narrative Research polled 400 Nova Scotians, 400 New Brunswickers, 350 people from Newfoundland and Labrador, and 300 Prince Edward Island residents about their satisfaction with their governments' performances. The study found residents reported an increase in satisfaction with their governments this year compared to 2024. Newfoundland and Labrador residents are 67 per cent satisfied with their government (up 14 points from 2024) while Islanders report 62 per cent satisfaction (a 15-point increase). Nova Scotia's satisfaction sits at 60 per cent (up 16 points) while New Brunswick is at the bottom with 59 per cent of residents being satisfied (a 30-point increase). 'The past year has been a time of much change within the region. We've seen multiple elections and three new leaders across our region,' said Margaret Brigley, CEO and partner of Narrative Research, in a news release. The study also found that 64 per cent of Nova Scotians are satisfied with how their government is handling U.S. tariffs while 63, 59 and 50 per cent of Newfoundland and Labrador, P.E.I. and New Brunswick residents are satisfied with their governments' response to tariffs, respectively. According to the study, none of the Atlantic Canadian governments score high in satisfaction with addressing the cost of living. P.E.I. sits at the highest point with 32 per cent of residents being satisfied, with New Brunswick right behind it at 31 per cent. Newfoundland and Labrador is at 28 per cent and Nova Scotia rests at 27 per cent.
Washington Post
01-06-2025
- Health
- Washington Post
This homemade vegan cottage cheese is quick and protein-rich
Make it or buy it? When it comes to food, the answer depends on so many variables, such as: How much time are you willing to spend? How much money? Will the homemade version be better than what you can buy? Or will you get enough satisfaction from the DIY process that none of the previous questions matter?
New York Times
24-05-2025
- Lifestyle
- New York Times
Working Out
I generally work three days in the office, two days from home. Recently, I was working on things that necessitated my being there in person, so I worked Monday through Friday, all five days in the office. The week felt long, unending. I kept thinking, 'Tomorrow's Friday,' but there was always another day. I had expected to feel spent at the end of the week, ready to return to the hybrid schedule, but instead I felt sort of delighted. Yes, the week was long, and wasn't that great? We're always complaining that life goes by so quickly, that we don't have enough time; look, it's summer again, how can that be? I found myself amazed at the way time seemed to elongate during my week in the office. Yes, the days seemed to be moving more slowly, but isn't that what we want? Isn't that the point? Hybrid work, for many of us, emerged from Covid lockdowns. It's been several years that I've been working this split schedule, and while it felt novel back in 2020, lately it's felt humdrum. I've become so accustomed to the tempo of the week — Monday work from home, three days in the office, work from home Friday — that changing it up made the days feel strange, like new countries to explore. You might say, sure, I want my life to feel longer, but I want more leisure time, not an interminable workweek. I get it. Maybe part of my satisfaction with this schedule came from not having to squeeze all my office-specific work into three days. But it's intriguing to think that reorganizing your week can reorient your relationship with time. Maybe the week felt longer because there was so much sameness to the daily routine. This is what people complain about! Monotony! We want to mix things up! But I think the real reason the office week felt longer, in a good way, is that it felt richer, more textured. On the two days a week I normally work from home, I see a very limited number of people. I have fewer social interactions. I'm less likely to go out after work. There's less information to process, less excitement, and that makes the days, in a way, seem less significant. I spend less time thinking about the work-from-home days, so they make up less of my larger life narrative. Five days in the office, by contrast, was five days of commuting with the fascinating (if occasionally maddening) characters on mass transit, seeing colleagues, coffee and lunch dates, happy hours. There was more content, more surprise, more to think about. Sure, there were days when I wished I could sleep a little later and not rush out the door to catch a train. But mostly the days felt like generous canvases to fill with the interesting activity of just living. I realize I may sound like a corporate stooge, advocating that people buckle down and get back to the office. But I think you can achieve this kind of time elongation without giving up remote work. If you feel, as I did, that those home workdays were becoming sort of boring, suboptimal entries in the logbook of how you're spending your time, you can try varying your schedule. Work from the library, or a cafe. Make a concerted effort to meet a friend for lunch, or to get dressed and go out after working in your pajamas all day. Mess with the format of your days. Make them feel larger. I'm sure after enough time working five days a week in the office, I'd get used to the rhythm and start to feel as if time was going by too quickly again. When I told a colleague I'd been in every day of the week, he said it sounded 'absolutely grueling.' And I'll admit I'm not sure I'll do it every week. But I'm definitely going to continue to fiddle with my schedule, to keep things interesting, to keep trying to slow time down. 📺 'Adults' (Wednesday): A 'Friends' for an extremely online generation, this new FX series finds five recent college graduates crashing at a borrowed house in Queens. An ode to the adventure and general incompetence of young adulthood, the single-camera sitcom stars an ensemble of emerging actors. (Downtown luminary Julia Fox drops in midseason for a nicely madcap cameo.) Will this be the first great Gen Z comedy or simply a chance to see what happens when people stop being polite and start sharing a single bathroom? Jalapeño Grilled Pork Chops It's Memorial Day weekend! Which means it's time to uncover that grill, give those grates a good cleaning and make Eric Kim's jalapeño grilled pork chops. Marinated in a vibrant green purée of jalapeños, garlic, cilantro stems and rice vinegar, the pork takes on a tangy, spicy character that's amplified by a relish of jalapeño and red onion spooned on top. Eric's recipe is flexible; you can marinate the meat for as little as 30 minutes or leave it in the fridge overnight. And for those who don't have a grill, the pork is just as good cooked under your broiler until the edges turn brown and crisp. Serve it with tortillas or flatbread, and a big crunchy vegetable salad. Then put it on repeat all summer long. The Hunt: An immigration lawyer traded Brooklyn for Jackson Heights, Queens, with $300,000 to spend. Which apartment did she choose? Play our game. What you get for $500,000: A chalet-style house in Bartlett, N.H.; a condo in Royal Oak, Mich.; or a 1939 brick house in Minneapolis. Travel: Spend 36 hours in Annapolis, Md. Which sunscreen is best? Whichever one you will apply, and reapply, often. Health and grooming experts answer seven questions about protecting your skin. A slice of Americana: Drive-in movie theaters are still thriving in some places. A photographer visited some to find whether they matched her memories. Smart kitchen: Unsure how to store your condiments? Read an A-to-Z guide. How to keep food from sticking to your grill As you kick off the season of grilling this weekend, our experts have a few quick care and maintenance tips to keep your beloved grill in shape. You can check for gas leaks by spritzing a soap-water mixture and looking for bubbles. Then, get the grates super hot, and scrape them down with a grill brush. Follow that with another wipe-down with a wet rag to get rid of any remaining soot or debris. Lastly, give the clean grates a good oiling with a paper towel and some vegetable oil. (And if you're in need of a new grill entirely, we have recommendations for that, too, including a brand-new guide to griddles.) — Brittney Ho Indianapolis 500: The most famous race in American motorsports is back. Here are a few names to follow as you watch the drivers speed around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 200 times: Sunday at 12:30 p.m. Eastern on FOX Here is today's Spelling Bee. Yesterday's pangram was ideology. Take the news quiz to see how well you followed this week's headlines. And here are today's Mini Crossword, Wordle, Sudoku, Connections and Strands. Thanks for spending part of your weekend with The Times. — Melissa P.S. Our colleague Lauren Jackson wrote about the story behind Believing, her yearlong project reporting on the ways that belief shapes American life. Sign up here to get this newsletter in your inbox. Reach our team at themorning@
Free Malaysia Today
22-05-2025
- Science
- Free Malaysia Today
Why there's no one-size-fits-all solution to finding happiness
There's no magic formula for happiness. (Envato Elements pic) PARIS : In recent years, happiness has become a serious subject of study. Psychologists, economists and sociologists have joined forces to unravel the inner workings of human fulfilment. With this in mind, researchers from several North American universities have analysed the lives of over 40,000 people in five countries. Over a period of almost 30 years, they examined their level of general satisfaction, as well as their relationship to five essential dimensions of existence: health, income, housing, work and relationships. It turns out that there is not just one, but a multitude of ways to be happy, specific to each individual and each context. For some, happiness is based on tangible criteria such as income, employment or housing. For others, it depends on personal traits such as resilience or the search for meaning. Some combine these two dimensions, while a minority seem to deviate from any pre-established model. These findings call into question the two main theoretical models that have dominated until now. The first, termed 'bottom-up', assumes that happiness derives from satisfaction in the various areas of life. The second, called 'top-down', argues that certain personal dispositions, such as optimism or emotional stability, influence one's perception of happiness independently of external circumstances. This study proposes a third, more flexible path, closer to reality, with a 'bidirectional model,' in which internal and external factors are intertwined. 'These things are treated separately, but they aren't really. They feed into each other at a personal level,' explained Emorie Beck, assistant professor of psychology at the University of California, Davis and first author on the paper, quoted in a news release. To promote well-being, public policies should be designed to take account of this diversity, rather than rely on universal approaches. 'We have to understand the sources of happiness to build effective interventions,' said Beck. In other words, raising a society's level of happiness means taking each individual's needs into account. The same policy can transform the lives of some, while making no difference to others. This study has served as a reminder that there's no magic formula for happiness. It is complex, specific to each individual, and sometimes even elusive. But one thing seems certain: to better understand it, people need to stop thinking of happiness as a universal standard, and start thinking of it in terms of the individual.
