It's better to give than receive.  Altruism, giving without expecting anything  may be the best way to have your cake and eat it too when it comes to happiness in your life and marital bliss.

These are the findings of a  survey which was part of the General Social Survey, directed by Tom W. Smith, PhD, of the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago.

Altruistic love was at the 'heart' of the results, which included more than 1,300 people of which 60%  were married.

Findings presented in an article  on WebMD  were inline with what we already know: giving  more love makes you happier in general.  Altruistic love for their spouse resulted in  happier marriages.



What's more,  whether you are married or not, altruistic love for a significant other has a bigger payback for yourself  resulting in  higher levels of general happiness in your life overall.

Nine out of ten participants said they would happly choose to suffer rather than have their spouse suffer.

Married people get a "significant increase" in marital happiness if they have "this kind of self-sacrificing, put-the-interest-of-the-other-before-my-own-interest perspective on their romantic and close relationships," says Smith.

Researchers say altruistic love isn't limitted for married people. They say it says a lot about us as humans.

Humans are "both self-interested and self-sacrificing," Smith notes. "I think sometimes we think of us as only in competition and material benefit and whatnot, and there's clearly more to human psychology than that."