Whether you are recently engaged, married for twenty years or single and looking, this video gives research based information about how to intentionally make a marriage or partnership work. It comes down to the small moments and choices you make to be present.
An Affair Doesn't Have to Mean the End of A Marriage →
An excellent article about the other side of an affair.
We Marry the Wrong Person
An impressive New York Times piece on modern marriage and the reality that many people may not need to divorce.
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/05/29/opinion/sunday/why-you-will-marry-the-wrong-person.html?_r=0
Small Talk v. Intimacy
So how do you spend the (sometimes small) amount of time you have to talk to your partner? Do you promote connection or do you talk past each other? The difference may not be as obvious as you would think.
Same Sex Couples and Lessons to Learn About Emotional Intelligence
Same sex couples' successes and failures were studied alongside straight couples', and the bottom line is that same sex couples tend to operate from a healthier set of principles.
Emotional intelligence appears to be higher in same sex couples, where hostile and controlling emotional tactics were fewer. Humor and positive perspective were more often used to start disagreements, and disagreements were more easily forgotten when done. The research goes on to show the differences in lesbian couples' and gay couples' argument patterns, likely a result of gender socialization.
https://www.gottman.com/blog/what-makes-same-sex-relationships-succeed-or-fail/