Compatibility is an important ingredient in any relationship, including marriage. At the same time, opposites are supposed to attract. How do we reconcile these seemingly contradictory notions, especially in marriage?
I recently read that, of all types of compatibility, compatibility in financial priorities is vital for marital success. That is, the views of a husband and wife on financial priorities must be quite similar, if a marriage is expected to last long. It appears that a marriage can survive incompatibilities on several grounds as long as the husband and wife are compatible on their financial priorities.
In the developed world where basic necessities have been taken for granted for over a century, marital relationships faced decisions of financial priorities at a higher level. This probably led to growing incompatibility of financial priorities between husbands and wives e.g. brand new furniture for the home versus college education for a child.
Contrast this with developing countries like India where fundamental financial priority for virtually everyone – especially those born in and around the Independence in 1947 and a couple of decades afterwards – has been the fulfillment of basic necessities. Since most people couldn’t afford to have any higher level of financial priorities, compatibility in financial priorities between a husband and wife has been automatically assured, which virtually guaranteed longevity of a typical Indian marriage.