Which of these are you really good at? Trigonometry Skiing Making a souffle that doesn’t fall Sewing by hand Replacing a clutch Nature photography Throwing a birthday party Treating the injured at a car crash scene Throwing a curve ball Managing money Matching the perfect wine to a meal It wasn’t everything on the list, was it? So if you’ve screwed up your marriage or married...
If your wife spends less time making herself beautiful, does it mean she cares less about you? If she starts wearing nicer makeup, does it mean she’s cheating on you? Probably not. In research reported this month’s issue of Psychological Science, we learn that women choices in makeup vary with the testosterone levels in their saliva. We also know that overall interest in her...
I just read an article published online yesterday and due to appear in the upcoming issue of the Journal of Family Issues. It reports a new study showing that college students, ages 18 to 21, almost all of them living away from home at a private religious college and a state university, pay a steep price for their parents’ arguments back home. What price? Depression if they feel frightened...
Imagine a really unpleasant smell. Notice what your eyebrows do, how your eyes squint, how your nostrils close, and how your lips close or make that shape they make when you’re saying, “Ick.” Imagine stepping in something gross feeling on the bathroom floor in your socks. Check your eyebrows, your eyes, your nostrils, and your lips again. Imagine hearing an unfunny joke, the...
When your spouse is chronically ill, it affects you, too, in so many ways. Most of us notice this spillover effect. Your life gets harder — running more errands, doing more chores, coordinating health care, insuring a steady income, and limitations on travel and the strenuousness of what you can do together. It’s not an easy life, but it feels awful to complain, because no matter how...
