There appears to be no simple answer. In fact, a number of years together is no indication of degree of happiness or satisfaction. Couples do not necessarily remain married because they are blissfully happy, although happiness is definitely a strong determinant in long marriages. They stay together for numerous reasons, love being but one of them. Cultural values can be factors in a relationship, where family pressures to remain in a marriage outweigh the wishes of an individual.
Children motivate many a distressed couple to remain together.
Breaking up a household is very painful, and more so when children are involved. Occasionally a marriage is extremely toxic, but each party has esteem too low to imagine being attractive to anyone else, so they continue a hostile relationship with no hope of escape. They ap pear to be hopelessly attached in mutual negativity. Few couples realize that many of the seemingly negative reasons for remaining in an unsatisfactory relationship are not necessarily bad. In reality, most marriages have the potential to achieve a high level of satisfaction no matter how difficult they seem.