Annoyingly, some guys think that getting married is the official sign that their life is over. They believe they can't have fun anymore (whatever that means), their partners will be naggers, and they'll have to work their asses 100 times harder to raise a family.

But a recent study published in the Journal of Family Psychology found that marriage is actually good for the guy's mental health because it gets a huge boost.

After analyzing data from the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth 1997 and how cohabitation (before getting married) and marriage affect mental/emotional health, researchers found that men had lower emotional distress when they went straight to marriage after dating. But men who went from dating to living together then to marriage had no decrease in emotional distress.

"Men are more likely than women to report cohabiting as a way to test a relationship," the study authors explain. "And cohabiting as a relationship test was linked to subsequent relationship problems, such as negative communication patterns, greater physical aggression, and decreased commitment to the relationship. Men who marry directly are unlikely to view their marriage as a relationship 'test' and may be better able to enjoy the benefits, and invest more in the marriage."

But the study has its limits. It didn't look into the quality of the relationships they examined and circumstances that all could have affected the results. The finding might still be worth remembering, especially if you and your guy are solid.

This story originally appeared on Cosmo.ph.

* Minor edits have been made by the Femalenetwork.com editors.

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