Jacques Brinon / AP

Partners who travel to work in the same direction tend to feel more positive about each other and are happier, according to surprising new research.

The classic line “Going my way?” may suggest a carefree and uncommitted lifestyle, but for couples at least, commuting to work in the same direction may be one of the factors that paves the way to marital satisfaction.  

At least that’s what a new study has found.

The report, “Going my way? The benefits of travelling in the same direction,” showed that partners feel more positive about each other and are happier if they travel to work in the same direction than those who don’t. The findings were based on two surveys conducted in the United States and in Hong Kong. Researchers asked more than 400 married people to rate their satisfaction with their spouses and to describe the direction, distance, and duration of their respective commutes.

“We think that similarity in commuting direction is symbolic of similarity in goals more generally, and that this is what underlies the effect,” said Robert S. Wyer Jr., a visiting professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong who supervised the research. “We know from other research that individuals with similar goals are more attracted to one another, and commuting to work is essentially pursuing a goal. So, commuting in the same direction may be symbolically linked to pursuing similar goals.”

Wyer said that there is quite a body of evidence that supports the notion that similarity along many dimensions increases interpersonal attraction, even when seemingly unimportant. Two people with the same first name, or who learn they come from the same city or state, for example, “may feel attracted to one another even if they have no other information about one another,” he said.

Should people who do not commute or commute in opposite direction from their spouses be worried?

“Obviously not,” Wyer said.

“I think the results are undoubtedly of greater theoretical and conceptual importance than practical importance. Commuting in the same direction obviously contributes a very small proportion of the variance in marital satisfaction. It would be ludicrous to conclude that it’s essential to marriage when so many other, more important things contribute," he said. "The effects are statistically significant and therefore very likely to exist, but the magnitude of the effect, in relation to that many other factors, is likely to be very small.”

A followup laboratory experiment eliminated other interpretations of the survey findings, as even randomly paired strangers reported greater attraction to one another when they walked in the same direction rather than in different directions.

Considered alone, the field studies have alternative interpretations, Wyer said.

“Couples who commute in the same direction may find it easier to get together after work for dinner or other mutually enjoyable activities, and this could account for their greater marital satisfaction. The laboratory studies are not susceptible to this interpretation,” he said.

But when both laboratory and field studies are considered in combination, it increased confidence in the findings, he said.

The Harvard Business Review recently featured the study in an article, “You Can Improve Your Relationship” based on a Q&A with Wyer, who is also a professor emeritus at the University of Illinois. (The study was originally published in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in July, and is authored by Xun (Irene) Huang, Ping Dong, and Xianchi Dai, who were primarily responsible for the research, as well as Wyer.)

Jill Kristal, a clinical psychologist in Larchmont, N.Y., who frequently counsels couples and families on workplace transitions and work-life balance issues, was initially surprised that the topic would be the subject of scholarly research, and was somewhat concerned about the modest sample size. But once she thought about it, it made sense.

“It made me think about my wedding, and walking down the aisle to get married,” Kristal said, noting that the long-established tradition was a symbolic sharing of similar goals, much like shared commutes in the study. 

In addition, she said the findings resonate with her counseling work with couples.  “When one partner decides to stay at home, the adjustment is really difficult,” as they often have difficulty relating to each other. "They no longer understand where the other is coming from.”

More money news:

• Boomer women struggle in recession's wake
• Microsoft pins high hopes on Windows 8
• Higher taxes, rising prices in store for US in 2013
• Video: 4 tips for growing retirement money tax-free
• Sign up for our TODAY newsletter

Follow TODAY Money on Twitter and Facebook

Worsening road congestion is wasting plenty of time and money – especially when you consider the rising cost of gas.

A new study by the U.S. Treasury Department finds that traffic snarls wasted 1.9 billion gallons of fuel last year — about 5% of the gas American motorists used.  At the current price, that would work out to more than $7 billion nationwide.  Other recent studies have indicated that Americans collectively waste about 5 billion hours in traffic, meanwhile, which works out to billions of dollars more in lost productivity.

In all, the study – prepared in support of the White House effort to upgrade the nation’s highway infrastructure – suggests the total cost in time and money works out to about $100 billion a year.

The cost of poor quality roads, meanwhile, results in about $400 in added yearly maintenance costs for the typical urban driver.  That runs as high as $756 annually for a motorist in the metropolitan San Jose areas, according to the report.

A123 Recalling Faulty Electric Vehicle Batteries 

The Obama Administration is hoping that the report will hope get members of the House of Representatives to finally act on a federal highway bill that has been stalled on Capitol Hill.  The Senate has already passed a two-year measure that will fund infrastructure and transportation programs – and allow the government to continue collecting federal fuel taxes.

House Republicans, however, have been pressing for a five-year, $260 billion measure – but it has so far failed to win enough support.  If the House fails to act – or if the two sides of the Hill fail to come up with a compromise – before the end of the month all federal highway and transportation programs could come to a halt.  Even fuel tax collection would be stopped.  By some estimates, the impact could be as much as 2 million jobs.

House Speaker John Boehner has shifted his position to support the Senate measure but it is unclear whether he can sway enough of his fellow GOP lawmakers.

Ford Lays Cornerstone of $1 Bil New Indian Plant

But there is growing pressure to reach that compromise.

Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, president of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says the Treasury Department report is “the latest reminder that it’s time to stop the partisan bickering in Washington and invest in our nation’s infrastructure.”

The study reveals that:

• Nine out of 10 Americans spend $1 out of every $7 they earn on transportation;
• Simply to repair the crumbling U.S. bridge and roadway infrastructure will require an annual $85 billion in spending over the next 20 years;
• Yet the U.S. spends less on transportation infrastructure than the majority of other major economies, such as Britain and Germany.  For the U.S., it is just 2% of GDP compared to 5% in Europe.  Fast-growing China is currently investing 9%, though that includes a push to create a roadway infrastructure.

The study also reports that the use of highway ridership soared to 10.4 billion paid trips last year, up from about 8 billion in 1996.  The vast majority of that growth has come on light and heavy rail systems.

March Sales Hold Strong Despite Fuel Price Worries

Ironically, the impact of traffic congestion might have been worse had it not been for the recession, which has seen millions of Americans thrown out of work.  A separate study by Texas A&M University found that the number of hours Americans lost to traffic snarls slipped from a record 5.2 billion hours in 2007 – before the wholesale collapse of the economy – to just 4.6 billion the year after.  The figure has only slowly been rising again as the economy recovers.

On a personal level, the study found the average American losing more than 30 hours annually to traffic congestion, with the figure rising to more than 70 hours in cities like L.A., Washington, D.C., and Chicago.

We take no joy in telling you this, mostly because we didn’t like hearing it ourselves. But if you suspect that all that time you spend slogging to work makes you dumber and unhappier, you’re only partially right.

Getty Images

It also makes you miserable, hate your job and probably is killing you (OK, that’s wildly overstating the case; it’s just making you feel less healthy).

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index recently asked commuters how they felt about their lives, emotional health, work environment and overall health. And how long it took them to get to the work.

The results, in general: The longer you are in that car, or train, or bus (or walking we suppose), the worse off you are.

Specifically, the longer your commute:

• The more you worry.
• You are less likely you are to smile or laugh each day.
• High blood pressure and obesity are more likely.
• You will exercise less (and we’re told that’s good for you, supposedly).
• It's less likely you will see your workplace as having a trusting place.
• You will hate the job that you’re spending all that time to get to and from.

“I think the numbers that really struck me were around stress and health behavior and work environment. There is a significant difference,” determined by commute time, Nikki Duggan, Healthway's director of operations & analytics, says.

Employers should consider commute time and its effects as they “work to transform workplace culture,” she adds.

Makes sense to us. During the too-many years we had a two-hour-plus round trip for work we certainly felt worse and really, really detested some of the people we worked with (although, full disclosure, we probably would have felt that way about them if we only had to cross the street to clock in).

We’ve uploaded some slides specific to commuting data from the study. To download them as a .pdf click here. A couple of notes: Pages five and six, which deals with positive and negative effects, the question asked of respondents was “In the past day have you experienced …” with the effect. Except for the “Diagnosed with Depression,” which of course was, “Have you ever been.” (This will make more sense when you’re looking at the document.)

Have you ever had a particularly long commute you felt weighed on you?