Based on the results of the meta-analysis, here are five good markers of relationship success:   Commitment, or one’s long-term orientation and attachment to one’s partner is a very good predictor. It’s not surprising that those intending to stay in their relationships are less likely to break up.  Positive illusions – We’ve written about it […]

More than a third of marriages between 2005 and 2012 began online, according to new research at the University of Chicago, which also found that online couples have happier, longer marriages.   Although the study did not determine why relationships that started online were more successful, the reasons may include the strong motivations of online […]

The Administration for Children and Families presents the Strengthening Families Evidence Review Read More.

Bernstein describes the results of a series of six studies that followed 100 couples for the first seven years of marriage. Researchers at the University of Iowa found that both husbands and wives feel lower marital satisfaction when they are given too much advice from a spouse, as opposed to too little. And—surprise!—unsolicited advice is […]

Researchers at the Relationships, Emotion and Health Lab at San Fransico State University followed 127 middle-aged and older long-term married couples across 13 years, checking in to see how they communicated about conflicts from housework to finances. The researchers found that while most aspects of demand-withdraw communication remained steady over time, both husbands and wives […]

"Marriages among many of the nation's elite troops — Navy SEALs, Green Berets, Rangers and others — are so damaged after years of war that one in five commandos say that if given the chance, they would have married someone else or not at all.   The results of a first-ever survey of special operations […]

Relationship problems can keep us awake at night. But new research from UC Berkeley suggests that sleepless nights also can worsen lovers’ fights.   UC Berkeley psychologists Amie Gordon and Serena Chen have found that people are much more likely to lash out at their romantic partners over relationship conflicts after a bad night’s sleep. […]

The Community Healthy Marriage Initiative Evaluation: Impacts of a Community Approach to Strengthening Families The Long-Term Effects of Building Strong Families: A Relationship Skills Education Program for Unmarried Parents, Technical Supplement The Supporting Healthy Marriage Evaluation: Early Impacts on Low-Income Families, Technical Supplement Administration for Children and Families (ACF) Office of Planning, Research and Evaluation […]

People with lower incomes value the institution of marriage just as much as those with higher incomes and have similar romantic standards for marriage, according to a new study published in Journal of Marriage and Family. The new research suggests that government initiatives to strengthen marriage among low-income populations should move beyond promoting the value […]

The poll, directed by Clark psychology professor Jeffrey Jensen Arnett, reports that 86 percent of 18- to 29-year-olds surveyed nationwide expect to have a marriage that will last a lifetime. Read More.