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Lifestyles Left and Right
The 27 Percent Solution
Swiss researchers find the key to marital bliss.
The other morning at breakfast I happened to be thumbing through my copy of the European Journal of Operational Research, when I came across a fascinating study titled "Optimizing the marriage market: An application of the linear assignment model." While it may have been the application of the linear assignment model that lured me in, it was the optimization of the marriage market that had me hooked.
Inside, Swiss researchers report the discovery of a magic formula for successful marriages. If true, this could mean that marriages of the future will be contracted based on scientific principles, instead of such common, but notoriously unreliable factors as failed prophylactics and tequila.
The study begins by echoing what many of us have known all along: that a successful marriage has little to do with passion, sexual prowess, your partner's good looks, or the make and model of his car. It has to do with smarts.
According to these well meaning, but obviously over-funded scientists, the key to a happy marriage -- if you are a man -- is to find a woman who is 27 percent smarter than you are. If you are a woman, you need to find a man 27 percent dumber.
It's that simple.
Well, it is, and it isn't. For instance, it is not hard for me to find a woman who is 27 percent smarter than me. The hard part is getting her to go out on a second date.
The researchers also suggest the woman should have a college degree and the man shouldn't. This was very bad news for me as I have two college degrees. The good news is that my degrees are in English and journalism, so, obviously, they don't count.
This report will doubtless prove hard for some men to stomach. After all, we men prefer to suffer under the illusion that we are in every way superior to our spouse. Sure, all of the latest research tells us that, with regard to IQ, men and women are in a statistical dead heat, but who besides underpaid journalists reads the latest research? This illusion is understandable when you take into account that women tend to underplay their intelligence while men overstate theirs. This is what researchers call the male hubris and female humility effect, and everyone else calls the Ego. Thomas Hobbes, in his Leviathan, backs me up on this:
Such is the nature of man that howsoever they may acknowledge many other to be more witty, or more eloquent, or more learned, yet they will hardly believe there may be many so wise as themselves.
No doubt this is why men used to lock up astronomers who dared suggest the earth revolved round the sun, because, that meant, by extension, that "I" am not the center of the universe.
LUCKILY FOR ME my girlfriend is at least 27 percent smarter than me. And I don't base this just on the fact that she scored higher on her ACT. I base it on day-to-day observation. I may pay for our dinner date, but she does the real hard work: figuring up the tip. And as for getting to the restaurant, if it were left up to my navigational skills, we would drive around in circles until we ran out of gas and were forced to resort to cannibalism.
I suppose this finding, like everything else, has an evolutionary explanation. Perhaps the smart cave girl went for the dim-witted, but brawny guy with the big club because he was more likely to bring home the bacon, or the mastodon, or what have you.
It's just that today brawn alone doesn't cut it. A few gals may appreciate it when their man brings home a 14-point buck -- though not if he tracks it on the carpet -- but more and more women think they want a guy who is their intellectual equal, so they can sit down after dinner and have a nice intelligent conversation about the last episode of American Idol or what jerks her coworkers are. This, however, would be folly. As the European Journal of Operational Research clearly says, you want a guy who has a hard time following what you are saying, (and not just one who wouldn't care if he could).
There are those who believe these new guidelines will usher in a golden era in men-women relationships: Divorce rates will plummet. Marital bliss will reign. No more broken homes.
Personally, I don't believe there is a magic formula for a happy marriage. I think it is simply a matter of hard work, adjustment and compromise, with equal parts common decency and politeness. Best of all, these are things we are all capable of -- whatever our IQ.
About the Author
Christopher Orlet writes from St. Louis and is a frequent contributor to The American Spectator Online.
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Jeannine| 3.11.10 @ 8:02AM
120(the avg IQ to succeed in college) - (120* 27%)=87.6 (Avg IQ = 100) IQ for male to be happily married to a college grad woman whose happily married to him.---------- I don't think so! All women want men who can do much more than just drooling.
Nick| 3.11.10 @ 2:14PM
Jeannine,
"120(the avg IQ to succeed in college) [...]."
Since when? The 1950's?
Thanks to affirmative action, minorities and women only need an IQ of 80 to get a degree.
As proof, I offer Cornel West, Sonia Sotomayor, and Maureen 'The Painted Lady" Dowd.
basur| 10.27.10 @ 6:41AM
Yeah, but things are easier when she is smarter. As far as your two degrees, you are right. They count for nothing.
JimH| 3.11.10 @ 8:11AM
This may start a barrage of hate mail, but I would suggest that the fact that the man is married means that his wife is smarter then he is.
Tim| 3.11.10 @ 8:46AM
"LUCKILY FOR ME my girlfriend is at least 27 percent smarter than me. "
As if he dared write anything else...
jcm| 3.11.10 @ 8:47AM
My formula: Never hold a grudge against her, though let her have all the "I told you so's" she desires; pitch in on all household chores except laundry; learn to like just one soap opera; and drink with her. This equals: All the sports you want to watch on TV, hot sex, and a nice stogie without the nagging.
PJ| 3.11.10 @ 9:33AM
"... hot sex, and a nice stogie...."
jcm,
Don't you need a healthy set of lungs & mouth for hot sex?
jcm| 3.11.10 @ 3:10PM
A good cigar in moderation does no harm, PJ. But Bill Clinton might misconstrue your question and and tell you that stogies enhance hot sex.
Anthony| 3.11.10 @ 3:45PM
" A good woman is just a good woman, but a good cigar is a smoke". Only a reprobate like Clinton could take the fun out of both.
P.S. I always wondered if Monica had managed to find JFK's hidden stash of Cubans.
PJ| 3.11.10 @ 6:27PM
Bill Clinton? The man w/2 heart surgeries! Come on! The pig doesn't light my fire. Try someone else. Let me help you--- Tom Selleck when he was young.
Anthony| 3.11.10 @ 3:37PM
Lucky you, jcm. Do you have any idea what it's like freezing one's derriere off while sitting on the front porch, smoking a fine Montecristo, with the faithful Golden looking up and asking "what the F are we doing out here"?
I suspect your "formula" has more to it, lucky you!!
jcm| 3.11.10 @ 9:06PM
You'd be amazed at what the little things can do, my friend. Such as: not leaving underwear on the floor and knowing why "Jack" on Young and Restless" is an arrogant creep out to get Victor. Small pain for big gain!
Monique| 3.12.10 @ 12:23PM
You guys are hilarious....and probably very young indeed! Compromise, compromise, compromise....but NEVER compromise youself respect!
Ken (Old Texican)| 3.11.10 @ 9:21AM
I have the proven solution percentage, (5% solution)
Here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HxUuDPNbkJk
Tim| 3.11.10 @ 9:49AM
Only 5%? I thought everything was bigger in Texas...
John Navratil| 3.11.10 @ 3:41PM
Funny video!
I can't tell you how much smarter my wife is than I am. She understands "American Idol" and "The Bachelor". I just don't have a clue :)
Cindy C| 6.17.11 @ 4:04PM
We are doomed, as a species...
Raoul Bloodworth| 3.11.10 @ 9:59AM
Any good-looking women out there with IQs over 180? If so, give me a call.
Otis my man!| 3.11.10 @ 11:22AM
I bid 140!
(i'm not smart like Raoul. I grajuate of publik skool...)
Forrest Gump| 3.11.10 @ 9:10PM
Jenny and me is jes like peas and carrots
forrest, forrest gump| 3.13.10 @ 3:27PM
ahm naht a smaht man, Jenny....
run forrest ... RUN| 3.13.10 @ 9:32PM
but I know what love is!
gearjammer| 3.11.10 @ 12:05PM
Women are dumber than men. No doubt about it. They vote democrat and would stampede us to communism if they had their way. They also watch all those dopey tv shows. Also, dismissing sexual chemistry as a big plus for two drifters off to see the world together, say for 50 years or so , is rather naive.
Seek| 3.11.10 @ 12:25PM
I can prove women are not as smart as men. In one word: "Oprah."
Charles Martel| 3.11.10 @ 2:47PM
While the single word "Oprah" might be sufficient to close the case during the guilt-or-innocence phase of the trial, two words might be necessary during the punishment phase: "The View".
+++
Cindy C| 6.17.11 @ 4:07PM
Not a good example, Seek...have you heard Oprah's net worth, lately? More than yours, I'm sure. Astronomically.
Cuffs| 3.11.10 @ 1:12PM
Seek--you hit the nail right on the head!!
As a conservative woman, I feel like a
voice in the wilderness.
MikeBee| 3.11.10 @ 2:37PM
Cuffs,
Conservative? Christopher forgot to mention that, in the studies, being conservative raised a woman's I.Q. levels 50 points instantly.
JeffW| 3.11.10 @ 2:19PM
Sorry ladies but you will never be man's equal until you can walk around in public with your beer gut hanging out, bald, and still thinking every member of the opposite sex still finds you sexy. LOL
Charles Martel| 3.11.10 @ 2:54PM
You know, that's just the beer... um... "thinking".
+++
fp| 3.11.10 @ 3:29PM
This seems to be non-intersecting. Woman 100 seeks man 73. But man 73 seeks woman 92.7. But woman 92.7 seeks man 67.7.
Red| 3.11.10 @ 5:24PM
The fact that my wife married me and has now spent 33 years as my better half... does sometimes give me pause as to her intelligence. But that aside, I now wanna know where to get some of that research money that funds studies like this… I need a few mil$ to do a study on why rich people drive better cars and live in bigger houses than I do.
Maddox| 3.11.10 @ 6:13PM
This study is totally bogus!
If it were accurate all marriages would be successful.
Just kidding guys.
Intelligence does not always coincide with common sense and that is a necessary ingredient in almost all success stories.
PCP Smoker| 3.11.10 @ 6:18PM
Yeah, but things are easier when she is smarter. As far as your two degrees, you are right. They count for nothing.
moron| 3.11.10 @ 6:46PM
Underpaid journalist. You got me on that one. Is there such an animal??
Ed | 3.11.10 @ 7:03PM
My wife and I are about the same IQ wise (genius, of course) but more importantly we compliment each other by filling in our "weak spots". She's doggedly determined on important things that I would let slide, while I'm very practical in important areas where she's kinda dingy. Amazingly, she was already a conservative when I met her!
Roman Melnyk| 3.11.10 @ 9:29PM
RM
High school graduate, marries college girl-bachelors/masters-married over 40 years. She is liberal, I'm conservative, enough said...Go Swiss.
Ralph Novy| 3.12.10 @ 3:21PM
Or.... "Go Czech." Etc.
Helped my wife get a "higher" degree than I held.
But I only did it because I wanted to be first to say "Fuck you, Doctor Novy!"
Yeah.....she's AT LEAST 27% smarter than I.
lol
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Ralph Novy| 3.12.10 @ 2:14PM
Christopher:
Great piece. Had me laughing out loud. Going to share it with lots of people.
Thanks.
Ralph Novy| 3.12.10 @ 3:14PM
After sending the link to your piece to several people, re-read it.
Even better the second time.
Unmistakable mark of good writing.
Kudos.
PolishKnight| 3.12.10 @ 3:53PM
Indeed, if this research is serious then it proves that IQ and college degrees are inversely proportional to intelligence. Smart women with college degrees who marry down have more stable marriages? What's next? Men are more likely to bite dogs than the other way around?
Of course the author pays for the dinner dates since a woman's income is superfluous. Like paying to wash a rental car.
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Vietnam Vet in Communist MA| 3.13.10 @ 6:18PM
Funny, I heard this on the radio this morning: "God made women pretty so man would marry them, and He made women dumber so they would marry men!" Kind of contradicts the article.....
Rosie| 3.14.10 @ 2:04PM
I hope you're joking about English and Journalism degrees don't count.
Bart Soetoro| 3.14.10 @ 4:35PM
But show me a woman with a degree that can add and subtract.
WilhelminaGertrude Salmonscent| 3.14.10 @ 4:47PM
Money AND sex. If either goes away or become less, then comes the divorce. Happy partners NEVER go out to the club without their spouse. Most couples that drink alcohol and/or do drugs break up within six years. Most happy couples rarely see their old friends - instead see their family weekly, have two plus children and no credit card debt. Flirtations, booze, drugs and debt are part of 90% of all failures.
Shyster| 3.15.10 @ 3:22AM
Very enlightening.
Now I know why I haven't had sex in years.
I'm just too darn smart!
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