Key to relationship success

Though your spouse’s idiosyncrasies may sometimes leave you wondering how your relationship works, a study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences suggests these quirks matter less than you think. Researchers tracking more than 11,000 couples for about a year found that 45% of relationship satisfaction came down to the dynamic between the partners and their sense of each other’s happiness and commitment to the relationship, rather than individual personality traits. The study authors say this indicates that a successful relationship is more about the connection you build over time rather than isolated traits.