Another upside to being married: It’s the rational thing to do. In MIT Professor Dan Ariely’s new book, Predictably Irrational, he shows how irrationally we’ll behave to keep our options open, whether it’s TV surfing, paying extra for features we don’t even know if we have any use for, or pursuing interesting opportunities that distract us from our goals. Professor...
From time to time, I watch the Dr. Phil Show to see what sorts of problems married couples bring him. Yesterday, his guests wanted him to make their spouses get rid of junk cluttering the house. The accused spouses, of course, did not see it as junk. Dr. Phil made the mistake I’ve heard so many therapists and marriage counselors make: he served as arbitrator. He took sides. He encouraged...
Want to look your most attractive? Smile and look into your sweetie’s eyes. That’s the word today from the Face Research Laboratory in Aberdeen. The report appears in the Proceedings of the Royal Society, the UK’s national academy of science. Here’s what they found. First, people look more attractive to others with a smile on their face than with a disgusted look. But you...
Howard Markman, marriage guru from the University of Denver and one of the creators of the very popular PREP marriage education program, noticed something interesting about Major League Baseball. When Denver was hoping to lure a major league team ten years ago, he found that cities with a major league team had a divorce rate 28% lower than cities seeking one. Seven years after the Colorado...
Yesterday’s local headline sure got our attention. Our county Register of Wills, who also handles marriage licenses, issued a warning. My husband and I might not be married. When I told a friend today, she said, “But I saw you two get married with my own eyes!” A judge in York County handed down a ruling earlier this month. So far, it applies only in that one county, but it...
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.
