7 Secrets to a Successful Relationship
Do you know any couples whose love you admire? Grandparents or neighbors, colleagues or parents, people whose romantic relationships have endured year after year, inspiring awe for their deep caring, commitment, and joy? Creating a loving and lasting partnership clearly isn’t easy. Most people enter marriage fully expecting to share a life together, but in reality, 40-50 percent (link is external) of those marriages are predicted to end in divorce. Stable marriages, moreover, are not necessarily happy: People stay in unsatisfying relationships for a variety of reasons (e.g., children, finances, religion). The question then is not one of mere stability, but also of quality : How do two people create and maintain a mutually happy relationship? What are the secrets to a successful marriage? Relationship researchers are deeply motivated to identify interpersonal patterns characterizing successful marriages. While plenty of e...