At CCAF, we are committed to bring research about relationships and family life to the public.  In this spirit, I share the article, “Masters of Love” from this month’s Atlantic Magazine.

The article traces the 30 year history of research on marriage; the work of John and Julie Gottman of The Gottman Institute is featured.  Their work is noteworthy for their capacity to  predict, with up to 94% certainty, which couples will be broken up, together and unhappy, or together and happy several years later.

“Much of it comes down to the spirit couples bring to the relationship.”

That’s where kindness and generosity come in.  Those couples who accept each other’s ‘bids’ for contact, who ‘turn toward’ each other, do better in the long term:

“People who are focused on criticizing their partners miss a whopping 50 percent of positive things their partners are doing and they see negativity when it’s not there.”

Gottman found that the more physiologically active the couples were in the lab, the quicker their relationships deteriorated over time. The problem was that these relationships, called the ‘disasters’ showed all the signs of arousal; they were in fact in ‘fight-or-flight mode’—in their relationships. In these highly reactive couples, it was virtually impossible to have a conversation, express feelings, and be heard.

“Having a conversation sitting next to their spouse was, to their bodies, like facing off with a saber-toothed tiger.”

Fortunately, Couple and Family Therapists are trained to coach couples to shift to a less emotionally reactive posture.  In this way, couples can begin to express feelings and desires more effectively, and communicate how their partner’s behavior impacts them.

Read the full article here and learn about how to become more masterful at love.