[syracusa]

I (partially) agree with both you casttile and samildanach.

Well...yes, for someone very poor, if you get an opportunity to marry a better-off person, it is understandable how you would want to do it, it is very tempting. As castille said, what's a little "love" for the promise of a secure future? I agree.

However, what I said is that the "better-off" person most of the times turns out to be demanding and controlling in the relationship. It is exactly because he(she..less often) KNOWS that he saved you from a sucky life and you went ahead and said yes with a big grin on your face...that he now believes you owe him big.
And even in marriages power games exist, people have egos, conflicts appear....and then the balance of power is too tilted in one direction, making the other one miserable as heck.

Or are you talking about marriages where the poor female just shuts up, is always submissive and does what she's told - wearing an eternal grateful smile on her face for having been rescued from sucky poverty?
If yes - then maybe.
But last time I checked with the psychologists, self-effacing people were not necessarily the happiest ones.

Samildanach - yes there is something to be said about equal partnership. Actually, just the other day I was checking an article in a scientific journal about "MEDS" marriages. (Marriages of equally dependent spouses).

They have a lower divorce rate than many other types of couples (incentives for both to stick with the plan!) but their rate is still not as low as the rate of well-off / rich couples. But like you said, just because you don't divorce does not mean you are happy.

You would be surprised what the rich couples are willing to put up with in their marriages only to preserve appearances, the estate inctact, not to have to divide it, or lose some economic and social advanatges etc. There are too many things at stake when they make such alliances, too much to lose via divorce. Think about how JFK was cheating on Jackie Kennedy like mad...and she never flinched, although she knew about it? What about Hillary? You learn to swallow the bitter pill or else.

In fact, the lowest divorce rate is the divorce rate of the rich (save Hollywood, which is a special case) and the highest is that of the poor (they've got almost nothing to lose when they divorce).

Money is the best marriage stabilizer...as in "not get a divorce" - scientifically established!

But does that mean they are happy and really love each other, whatever "love" is? That's another story.
Again...like you said...happiness comes from commitment, mutual respect, genuine affection and pulling together for the well-being of the family.