Read this tip to make your life smarter, better, faster and wiser. LifeTips is the place to go when you need to know about Did You Know and other Marriage topics.

Can you predict marital satisfaction and divorce potential?

The First Minutes of Conflict Really Do Matter

Did you know that researchers have been able to observe newlyweds marital conflict discussion for three minutes and predict divorce? While this is interesting I find it more interesting in what the coders used to measure the conflict patterns. Below are the categorized affects that were displayed:

Five positive codes (interest, validation, affection, humor, joy), 10 negative affect codes (disgust, contempt, belligerence, domineering, anger, fear/tension, defensiveness, whining, sadness, stonewalling), and a neutral affect code.

I believe it is very interesting that 3 minutes into a conversation can be so predictive. However, in observing these communication patterns in couples I too have seen the negative patterns destroy marriages.

Comments

Nobody has commented on this tip yet. Be the first.

Ask a Question

Not finding the advice and tips you need on this Marriage Tip Site? Request a Tip Now!

Guru Spotlight

Ray Lokar

Ever wonder how you could make your life better and more fun? So have tens of millions of fans who have turned to LifeTips for answers over the past decade. We keep the tips, advice, books, podcasts and writing services flowing, so you can keep your life and business growing in the right direction. Upward!