The 2022 FIFA World Cup ended with Argentina’s victory. Koreans applauded the Korean team, which put up a strong fight but did not advance to the round of 16 after being defeated by Brazil. Not only were the players such as Son Heung-min, Cho Gue-sung, Lionel Messi, and Neymar under the spotlight during the World Cup. During major sporting events such as the World Cup, whether in Korea or abroad, the wives and girlfriends of athletes are often the focus of media attention, resulting in various news stories. A new term, WAGS (wives and girlfriends), has even been coined.

So, do athletes perform better when they are in love? While sports and love seem to be entirely unrelated, the surprising answer to this question is yes. When you fall in love, a hormone called oxytocin is produced. Consequently, your heart suddenly races, your hands get sweaty, and your cheeks flush. These are signs that you like someone. While this hormone stimulates your emotions and improves your ability to read other people’s minds and form stronger bonds with colleagues, it also fosters hostility toward people who are not classified as colleagues. In other words, being in love and being in a phase with high levels of this oxytocin can contribute to enhanced teamwork and competitiveness to beat the other team in team sports such as soccer. It also makes it easier to overlook pain or fatigue. This hormone induces new mothers who have just given birth to forget their pain and feel happy when gazing at their newborns. In the case of professional athletes, love has been shown to result in improved performance. It may be coincidental, but golfer Lydia Ko’s performance drastically improved after announcing her wedding plans in mid-2022, winning two consecutive tournaments and achieving the world No. 1. ranking. Kim Si-woo also won the 2023 Sony Open, which he played during his honeymoon in Hawaii. Interestingly, his wife, Ji Hyun Oh, also announced her marriage to Kim shortly after winning the 2023 LPGA of Korea title in three years. The couple won respectively after announcing their marriage and after their marriage ceremony.

However, oxytocin is only produced for about six months after the beginning of a relationship. After six months, the excitement subsides. The rose-colored glasses come off. Rationality, which had been shunned by emotions, now takes the lead and you begin to discover your partner’s flaws. Couples faced with this reality either succeed in overcoming the obstacles and marry or part ways. Then what happens after the marriage? Research suggests that under similar conditions, married individuals earn 20% to 30% higher salaries than single individuals, a phenomenon known as the marriage premium. Considerable differences between married couples and single people are found not only in terms of salary but also in performance reviews and promotions in various organizations, including companies, schools, hospitals, and government agencies.

Three hypotheses may be able to explain this gap. First, married people might be better at work. They may have a heightened sense of responsibility and work harder after marriage because they have a family to support. The happiness and better appreciation of life after marriage might also contribute to better concentration at the workplace. Second, it may not be that married people are better at their jobs because they are married, but rather, individuals who excel at jobs are more likely to be married. This hypothesis reverses the cause-and-effect relationship of the first hypothesis. When this writer often encourages single students to marry, they sometimes say, “I can’t find someone to marry because good people are already taken.” which seems to be a fitting example for this hypothesis. Third, senior managers at the workplace may exhibit bias by assuming that married individuals are more competent than their single counterparts. This bias could lead to higher pay or quicker promotions for married employees, even if there is no difference in performance or abilities

It is a challenge to determine which of these three hypotheses is more accurate. Nevertheless, a detailed analysis of the performance evaluations and promotion of U.S. military personnel revealed that when comparing married and single people of the same rank, married people scored higher in performance reviews and were promoted faster, even after statistically controlling other factors. For instance, when comparing two subjects who received similar performance review scores as second lieutenants and were promoted as first lieutenants at the same time, the first lieutenant who got married received higher performance review scores after becoming a captain and was faster to be promoted as a major. Similarly, out of the two subjects who received similar performance review results as captains and were promoted at the same time, the subject who married as a captain earned better performance review scores after being promoted to major and was first promoted to lieutenant major. In other words, a difference that did not exist before marriage is found after marriage. While this may be attributed to the bias against single individuals, the same phenomenon is detected even when the supervisor’s evaluation was not subjective. For example, course evaluation scores of teachers evaluated by their students showed that married teachers received higher scores than single teachers, and the research achievement of university professors or the returns of individual investors on their stock investments, both of which are calculated objectively rather than subjectively, indicated difference. It is unlikely that such results are due to bias alone. Of course, the bias may have slightly influenced the results.

Some studies indicate that married people might experience a drop in their performance after divorce, separation, or the death of their spouse. In other words, marriage premiums exist because, in some cases, married people indeed perform better at their jobs after marriage. This is why an end to their marriage leads to poorer performance. However, not all married individuals work better. Some studies suggest that family troubles result in poorer job satisfaction and performance. In the end, a happier marriage can result in better work performance. This may be a personal experience, but I learned a great deal from my wife and addressed some of my weaknesses since my marriage. My worldview expanded, making me a better person who can consider my work and social life from various angles. Although it took time, it helped me perform better at work. A happy marriage, in this regard, helped me not only in my workplace but also in many other aspects. The average lifespan of married individuals is approximately eight years longer than that of single people. This suggests that married individuals live longer and shows that the influence of marriage is not only limited to work performance but also to one’s health. Even studies unrelated to marriage have found that people who feel lonely tend to have lower job satisfaction and performance. Regardless of your marital status, people who interact better with others tend to perform better at work. However, studies have shown that married people have a poorer work-life balance than their single counterparts, which suggests that they may have become busier after marriage as they care for their families.

So, how should business leaders apply these findings? Married employees are likely to perform better if more support is provided for happier marriages. Companies can improve their employees’ marital satisfaction by offering educational programs for happier marriages, as well as programs for their families or by enhancing their work-life balance. This can lead to happier homes and workplaces, resulting in increased loyalty to the company and improved work performance. In today’s society, where many people are unmarried or are single by choice, it would be helpful for companies to encourage hobbies so that employees do not feel lonely or create a company culture where employees can feel a sense of community by running mentoring or buddy programs.