Marital Rating Scale from the 1930s

Pleasantville (New Line Platinum Series)I got a kick out of this “scientific” marriage rating scale from the 30s. A researcher interviewed 600 husbands and 600 wives to find out what traits were important for their spouse to have to keep them happy. He then gave each trait a certain weight according to an approximate 100 point scale. Some traits are positive, so earn you points, while others are negative–so you lose points. You go through, add up all the points and get a final rating. 0-24 is a failure, over 76 is Very Superior.

Naturally once I saw this, I had to take it for Denisa and me. (Of course, since I was evaluating myself, I’m guessing I rated myself higher than Denisa would have.) I ended up with a 106, and I gave Denisa a 90–although it seemed to me while taking it that there were more total points available to the husband than to the wife (likely because husbands would be appalled if their wives outscored them on something). Denisa–what do I get when you take the test? What do you get? It’d be interesting to see. (There should be a new positive trait for wives: read husband’s blog. 5 points.)

Anyway, there you have it: scientific proof for why Denisa and I have a happy marriage. She doesn’t do dope, and I don’t smoke in bed. 🙂

So here’s the challenge, readers–take the quiz for yourself and your spouse, and post your results. It would be interesting to see a test like this done for today’s generation. Why is red nail polish a demerit? What about purple? Or blue?

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