Summarize the impacts of marriage on mens and womens health. Describe the underlying physiological ...

Men generally benefit more than women from marriage in terms of physical and mental health. Collectively, unmarried men have the shortest life spans. Married women have only slight advantages over unmarried women in terms of health. Cortisol levels are the primary underlying physiological factors at work here. Cortisol levels rise during disagreements and the levels drop more slowly in people who tend to be negative in their overall descriptions of the relationship or the specific dispute and its resolution. Womens cortisol levels tend to react more strongly to such negativity and also correlate with a higher divorce rate.