Couples kiss at the base of the flag pole
Couples kiss at the base of the flag pole at the Zocalo square in downtown Mexico City January 17, 2013. Reuters

An old psychological theory suggested that happiness in married couples started decreasing after a period of seven years together. This theory was called the seven year itch and was popularised by a movie of the same name in which Marilyn Monroe played the role of an actress who wins over the affections of a married man.

According to the Daily Mail, a new research proved that the old theory was wrong and that the 10-year mark was when a couple was most unhappy in their marriage. Two thousand women, who were born between 1957 and 1964 and were a married for a span of 35 years, were involved in the study.

Interviews were conducted by the students of the Brigham Young University in Utah on the women. It was found that in two-thirds of the marriages, initially there were high levels of happiness and then it started declining. It was revealed that the women were most unhappy after a period of 10 years into their relationship.

It was suggested that the ten-year mark coincided when the women were juggling the workloads of both, household chores as well as childcare. It was also found that 5 years post the 10-year mark, the levels of discord and arguments were much less.

Researchers found that those couples, who had stayed together for more than thirty years, felt their happiness levels grow after a certain point. A few of those couples said that though their happiness rose, it wasn't the same as when they had initially gotten married. At this point, though, they argued much less than during the entire span of their relationship.

The lead author of the research, Dr Spencer James, said that in the first decade of marriage, conflict increased and the conflicts either remained unresolved or were unresolvable. He said that the married couples, at that point of time, realised the difficulties that a long-term commitment comes along with, reported The Telegraph.

Dr James added that for many couples, the same issues would keep cropping up until they resolve it, but most of them just abandon it. He continued that the pattern of letting go of the hurt feelings completely required a great amount of time.