Want a Fulfilling Relationship? Science Says the Happiest Couples Have These 13 Characteristics

Couples who argue over text; apologize over text; and/or attempt to make decisions over text, are less happy in their relationships.

When it comes to the big stuff, don't let an emoji take the place of your actual face.

This isn't to say you can't be happy if you have kids--it's just to understand that it's normal to not feel happy sometimes. 

Many couples put pressure on themselves to feel perfectly fulfilled once they have a long-term partnership with children, but the reality of kids is that they're very stressful on relationships.

Research shows you're 75 percent more likely to get divorced if a friend or a close relative has already done the deed.

Attending to the health of one's friends' marriages might serve to support and enhance the durability of one's own relationship.

A few researchers believe couples should have rough beginnings where they work things out and then look forward to a long and happy incline in the state of the relationship.

The short-term discomfort of an angry but honest conversation is healthy for the relationship over the long haul.

When you know what to do and what's expected of you, you tend to be happier both yourself and with your spouse. 

Research shows that when husbands view their wives as the more attractive of the pair, not only are they more satisfied in the relationship, but the wives are, too. 

The opposite is not true--when husbands think they are better-looking, they aren't as happy.

People who consider their spouse to be their best friend are almost twice as satisfied in their marriages as other people.

Couples with overlapping social networks tend to be less likely to break up--especially when that closeness included "social dispersion," or the introduction of one person's sphere to the other, and vice versa.

Big spenders tend to attract thrifty people, and vice versa. Researchers found that both married and unmarried people tend to select their "money opposite"--and that this causes strife in the relationship. 

The happiest couples tend to spend money in a similar way, whether that is saving or indulging

When couples celebrate their partner's accomplishments as if they were their own, they're more satisfied in the relationship. 

There's nothing quite so satisfying as having your partner be loudly and enthusiastically in your corner when you do well.