The majority of men have a good relationship with their mother-in-law, a new study suggests.
Psychologist Dr Linda Papadopoulos and Peter Hahn polled 1,500 married men on their attitudes to their wife’s mother. Contrary to popular perception, a decisive eight out of ten insisted that they got on well with her, while close to half believed their wife’s personal style and fashion choices had been strongly influenced by their mother. Some – one in eight –thought their mothers-in-law were more stylish than their wife and a surprising one in six even admitted to thinking their mother-in-law was more attractive.
Dr Papadopoulos said stereotypes of the ‘battle axe’ mother-in-law were wide of the mark.
“These findings are really interesting to see – I think because popular culture is so youth-biased, older adults can feel undervalued, even unseen.”
In November 2012, a University of Michigan study suggested that men who get on with their in-laws were less likely to get divorced.
Image by Adán Sánchez de Pedro via Flickr
Mine was fine in her place. Not so good in my place . . .