Study Says Time Alone Key to Healthy Marriage (and It’s Wrong)

The internet is full of studies that claim to impart knowledge that we all need. There's a new one that claims time alone is key to a health marriage. I would like to respectfully disagree.

To be fair, you should read the original study for yourself before I attempt to pick it apart. You can find it at Study Finds. Here's what it says in a nutshell:

• 85% of couples believe time alone is key to a healthy relationship
• Time alone is preferable to date nights
• Ideal alone time for those surveyed is 6 hours a week
• 41% would break off the relationship if partner didn't leave them alone

I will admit that there might be an element of truth to that first point. I do believe that a person does require some degree of alone time for their own mental health. But, it's that last point that makes me question the whole thing. The survey was done by talking to 2,000 Americans and more then 4 out of 10 would "break off the relationship" if their significant other didn't leave them alone? Hogwash.

I have to imagine there are quite a few married couples that might agree with me that if you don't have a "never say die" mindset, your marriage is never gonna survive anyway. Go into the relationship with a "I'll stay as long as they leave me alone" and you're guaranteed to have some permanent alone time eventually.

I think I understand what this survey was trying to communicate, but I disagree with the conclusion. I really doubt those 2,000 people this study is based on have an accurate understanding of how a marriage really works when it's gonna last forever, but that's just my (admittedly very loud) opinion.