Deciding on whether your partner is husband material is one of the most significant life decisions a person can make.

Marriage is a huge commitment that shouldn’t be taken lightly. After all, you are choosing to spend the rest of your life with someone, and it pays off to be sure they are your forever person. It can be hard to detect the right factors depending on past relationship traumas or your amount of experience with committed relationships. The qualities of a husband may share some similarities to those of a boyfriend, but more factors are involved when it comes to a long term committment.

The last thing you want to do is make the wrong decision. Marrying someone who doesn’t align with your values can impact a person’s mental, emotional and physical well-being. Although the chemistry and physical attractiveness may be strong, everyone can’t be marriage material or meant to be a spouse for you.

As your relationship grows, here are a few signs to look out for from your partner if you are considering marriage.

Emotionally Mature

Emotional maturity is a person’s ability to express and manage their emotions in a healthy way. Communicating feelings and being able to work through them plays a role in conflict resolution. Conflicts are not exclusive to relationship issues that surface. They also apply to life’s challenges and stressors. People who are emotionally self-aware and take the proper steps to cope with hardships make a relationship secure and prosperous.

Emotionally mature people are empathic. Empathy is when people can put themselves in another person’s situation and have compassion for others. A partner with a lack of empathy who doesn’t have the ability to understand another person’s situation causes unwanted problems in a relationship.

An Independent Partner

An independent partner can take care of their needs without relying on anyone else. The key thing to remember is that your partner should want you, not necessarily need you. A person who is attention-seeking can add unique challenges to a marriage that can be threatening to its union. The actions of a needy partner can come off as clingy. Clinginess looks like a person who is attention-seeking, needing frequent reassurance or repeatedly contacting their partner throughout the day.

A few signs of a person who is secure in their relationship are that they value their space, know how to make themselves happy, are ambitious and goal-setters.

Views You As an Equal

A hierarchy shouldn’t exist in a marriage because your partner should value your thoughts, ideas, feelings and interests in a relationship. Marriage requires partners to live together, which involves respecting each other. It’s unhealthy for one person to control the relationship by creating an unequal balance of power. There will come a point where life-changing decisions, such as buying a house or having children, must be made. During those significant and minor life events, a potential husband should want your input when making decisions.