Some men have an easier time being married than others. Now we learn DNA plays a big part in marriage. A brain hormone called vasopressin influences men’s bonding with a sex partner. More vasopressin makes men feel closer and want to stick around. Hasse Walum at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden and his research team report on the effects of a variation in the gene that determines the...
A good marriage can make tough times a lot easier. Tough times can make a marriage better or worse. I was thinking about this question yesterday, listening to John Michael Montgomery sing, “Do you remember the times of nickels and dimes…and love?” Almost all of us can remember such times, when we pulled together to get through difficult times. We felt close. We felt loved. We...
Following up on my July 29th blog post, my Enjoy Being Married teleclass on Wednesday, August 20, 2008 will be When Marriage Gets Boring. We will look at what we can learn by assuming love when we feel bored, how expecting love can bring back excitement, and tips to help us look for third alternatives to the choice between boredom together vs. pursuing our own interests separately. The teleclass...
“Divorces are mainly caused by too many expectations from the spouse.” Shabana Azmi, actress, activist, and Member of the Indian Parliament’s upper house (the Rajya Sabha), said this Monday at the opening of a premartial counseling center in India’s capital. Although Azmi spoke of Delhi’s mostly arranged marriages, she could have been talking about marriages in the U...
This morning, I read a newspaper columnist’s response to a woman who’s become bored with her 19-year marriage. The woman can’t see any way out of her boredom except to divorce. Unfortunately (or perhaps very fortunately), she could afford to divorce only if she wins the lottery or lands a rich boyfriend, because they are in debt. The columnist suggested she talk to her husband...
I am a widow who got it right the second time. I have been sharing here since February 14, 2006 what I learned from that experience and from positive psychology, marriage research, and my training as a marriage educator.
