How can I tell if my marriage is in trouble, and what can I do to prevent breakup?
Sue Johnson identifies warning signs in a marriage and what you can do to prevent issues from destroying your relationship.
Archives For love
Iowa State sociologists find older adults turning to online options for love, marriage
The research found that spouses who met online are older and have much shorter courtships — averaging 18.5 months of dating before getting married by comparison to 42 months for those who met in more traditional ways offline. (Link)
Special Report: The Science of Falling and Staying in Love
About half of first marriages fail in the U.S., as do two thirds of second marriages and three quarters of third marriages. We fail in large part because we enter into relationships with poor skills for maintaining them and highly unrealistic expectations.
In the Jan/Feb 2010 issue of Scientific American MIND Dr. Robert Epstein discusses how science can help you fall in love and stay there.
Download: full PDF article
related: Smart Marriages resources
How does technology enable intimacy?
Technology anthropologist Stefana Broadbent analyzes how we text, IM and talk. At the TED conference in July 2009, she described how these new methods of communication are helping us break out of old institutions and bringing us closer together than ever before.
Link: Can you fall back in love?
There is no consensus, but Anthony Centore, director of Thrive Boston Counseling and Psychotherapy, and other specialists do say that it’s possible to fall back in love with someone – with work. “A lot of people come in and they think they can never feel the way they did,’’ Centore said, “but after they start going through the [therapeutic] process, their skepticism starts going away.’’ The National Center for Health Statistics stopped collecting detailed data on divorce in 1996. But Andrew J. Cherlin, a professor of sociology at Johns Hopkins University, and author of “The Marriage-Go-Round,’’ predicts that 40-to-50 percent of marriages will end in divorce, with second marriages slightly more likely to end than first marriages. // related: Remarriage
It’s hot! It’s sexy! It’s marriage! (via Salon.com)
Am I the only person who actually enjoys being hitched these days?
If you love the person you are married to then all the stuff that’s your problem and not actually a problem with the relationship, stays your problem (for the most part), and you can focus on what’s great about marriage.
Maybe if we all had a better sense of humor about our relationships, our sex, and most important, getting older, our marriages wouldn’t be in such crisis.
Link: study: Shared Vices Good for Marriage
Australian researchers have identified what it takes to keep a couple together, and it’s a lot more than just being in love. The study, entitled “What’s Love Got to Do With It”, tracked nearly 2,500 couples — married or living together — from 2001 to 2007 to identify factors associated with those who remained together compared with those who divorced or separated. A couple’s smoking and drinking habits are a far better guide, data collected from 2500 couples between 2001 and 2007 shows. Married couples who either both smoke or both don’t, or who consume similar amounts of alcohol are considerably less likely to separate, says the study What’s Love Got To Do With It. Apparently, shared vices are good for marriage.The study was jointly written by Dr Rebecca Kippen and Professor Bruce Chapman from The Australian National University, and Dr Peng Yu from the Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs. (more links)
What are you passionate about?
happy wife — happy life
husbands everywhere
