A third of husbands would gladly spend all their spare time with their wife if they could, but only 20 per cent of wives feel the same, a study has found.

And while six in ten wives think that spending time away from their husband is healthy for a relationship, the figure falls to below 50 per cent when it comes to men.

The findings prove that men and women see marriage in different ways, according to relationship experts at dating site eHarmony.com, which produced the research.

While men see marriage as a means of gaining companionship, women see it as a way of receiving security and confidence, said Jenni Trent Hughes of eHarmony.

The survey of 1,040 married couples also found that a third of wives would find their husbands “annoying” if they were around all the time.

This falls to one in five for husbands when asked the same question about their wives.

Ms Trent Hughes said: “There seems to be a real difference in the impact of marriage on men and women. To men, marriage produces the intention and desire to become a unit spending all spare time together.

“For women, this is much less important as the security and confidence marriage brings enables them to blossom as individuals.”

The survey found that Friday evening is the time when couples feel happiest in their marriage, having finished work for the week.

Couples spend an average of 11 hours per week in front of the television, although a fifth of wives said that their husband’s hogging of the TV remote control was the most annoying thing about their partner.

A third of husbands, meanwhile, said that waiting for their wives to get ready to go out is the most irritating part of their marriage.

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