A few things about Dividend paying stocks: First of all, they declined less during the last market meltdown. As long as the Company stays profitable, investors will view them as a sort of safe-haven.
Second of all, it is a lot harder to artificially prop up the Stock price of a company with a long history of earning and dividends. IOW, it is less likely that you'll get taken by an Enron-esq creative accounting scam. Not impossible, but less likely.
It's easy for a company to play financial shell games. It's a lot harder fake it when you have to generate cash every quarter and pay it out to investors.
Third of all, you are getting a better return than a CD or Money market account, so even if the share price goes down, it is psychologically, a lot easier to buy and hold during bear markets.