As anyone with a significant other knows, strong committed relationships require some degree of sacrifice and compromise, and can entail a great deal of hard work. Despite the effort that they require, however, most people have a desire to be involved in a lasting relationship, and for good reason.

Studies have found that when people are in strong relationships, whether it involves marriage or not, it can actually improve their health by reducing stress and as a consequence, change hormonal activity in a positive way. The same positive benefits were seen in people who were not married but were in committed romantic relationships.

The current data, published in the journal Stress, support previous research that has indicated that marriage and emotional support can help people to deal with the effects of stress. On the other hand, single individuals who are not involved in relationships are believed to believe to respond more strongly to stress.

To arrive at their findings, researchers enrolled 500 students who were studying to get their master's degrees. The group consisted of 348 men (mean age of 29) and 153 women (mean age of 27). The subjects were asked to take part in a series of computer games designed to study their behavior. Before and after taking part in the games, saliva samples were taken to measure any changes in hormone levels.

The students were told that the games were required for passing the course and the results would have implications on their careers and by extension, their futures. These facts added a layer of potential stress to the outcome which could in turn affect levels of the stress hormone, cortisol.

What the scientists observed was that in all of the subjects, cortisol levels became elevated, with a higher average increase seen in women than in men. There was also an observed decrease in testosterone levels in men but not in women.

When relationship status was included, it turns out that single people, both male and female, displayed higher cortisol levels than their married counterparts. In other words, marriage (or committed relationships) appears to have a dampening effect on external stress, even in lieu of the fact that relationships themselves can involve some level of their own stress.

The findings mirror what has been seen in animal models, whereby primates and birds that engage in situations where the males assist the females show similar physiological changes.

Regardless of the data, however, most people can find value in being in a strong and committed relationship, especially when it offers some support and comfort against the onslaught of stress from our daily lives.