Why it makes no sense to buy expensive wedding rings
'28.04.2021'
Source: NBC News
Love and happiness in marriage cannot be bought, but the jewelry industry will certainly try to convince you that the more money invested in wedding rings, the happier your family life will be. Is it really?
The study, organized by Andrew Francis-Thane, an assistant professor at the National University of Singapore, and Hugo M. Mialon, an associate professor and postgraduate rector at the faculty of economics at Emory University, studied the relationship between wedding expenses and the duration of marriage, writes NBC News. To do this, scientists used data from a survey of more than 3 000 married and married adult Americans. The goal was to find out whether the purchase of an expensive ring and the cost of a luxurious wedding are affecting the longevity of the marriage.
“The general message of any advertising in the wedding industry is fueling the idea that investment in the wedding and the rings has a positive effect on the length of the union,” says Mialon.
In real life it is not
Experts found out that if a man spent on buying wedding rings from 2 to 4 thousand dollars, he will divorce 1,3 times more often than the groom who bought the rings from 500 to 2 thousand dollars. But! You shouldn't buy cheap jewelery either. The data of the same survey showed that husbands whose rings cost them less than 500 US dollars will divorce almost as likely as those who bought the most expensive jewelry. Not spared and women: the lady who received as a gift the most luxurious rings, often divorced from their husbands compared with the ladies who were not too expensive ring.
It is easy to assume that the optimal cost of the rings varies between 500 and 2000 dollars, if you want to reduce the likelihood of divorce. But scientists say that analyzing a study at such an angle is wrong. We are not talking about the fact that expensive rings provoke a divorce. Experts emphasize that only a positive correlation was found between the high costs of the wedding and the rings and divorces, while maintaining the constant characteristics of the relationship, including the income of the spouses and other potential causes.
Where did the relationship between the diamond (as a rule, this is the most expensive) rings and possible divorce come from?
Maybe the fact is that future spouses, in this case, are more focused not on creating a happy union and maintaining relationships from the very beginning, but on a magnificent celebration of the start of their family life. Many borrow money and take out loans to make a wedding the envy of all those near, distant and Instagram at the same time. Starting a relationship in debt is not a good start.
Psychotherapist Dr. Fran Walvis believes that when we get engaged, we all experience painful feelings between how we imagined the whole process and the moment in our childhood dreams, fairy tales about the beautiful prince or princess, with real life and man.
We experience what is called “rational disappointment” - realizing that it is impossible to get everything we want in the present, and not in a fabulous person with whom you are going to live together.
In this regard, a luxury ring may be an attempt to escape from reality, which will then return to the earth anyway. Therefore, instead of trying to improve the photo of the ringlet filters on Instagram for the envy of subscribers, it’s wiser to focus on real relationships.
Christy Charkhkutian, a psychologist specializing in family relationships, believes that the lavish spending and “full-time job” of choosing wedding decorations, halls, and treats can be a distraction for couples who do not have a strong relationship foundation or serious concern about it. This takes the couple away from the moment when they should sit down opposite each other and ask important questions about how they are going to spend the rest of their lives with each other. Relationships based on real intimacy, rather than a luxurious lifestyle, are much more likely to turn into a loving partnership that will last a lifetime, the expert is sure.
