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Activities and Exercises
The Pairing Game - From the following source comes this in-class activity to illustrate the matching phenomenon:
Ellis, Bruce J; Kelley, Harold H. (1999). The pairing game: A classroom demonstration of the matching phenomenon. Teaching of Psychology, 26, 118-121. Abstract: Describes 2 versions of an in-class simulation that allows students to directly experience the matching phenomenon and explore issues concerning mate selection, social exchange, and related psychological concepts. Students are randomly assigned a value (either a numerical value or a list of adjectives), which they place on their forehead so others can see it but the student cannot. The goal is to pair off with another student with as high a value as possible. The simulation, called the Pairing Game, illustrates how matching on similarity can occur, even in the absence of knowledge of one's own value and merely by seeking the highest value possible in a partner.
Jim Friedrich reports that he uses this activity and adds: "I simply have my pairs that have emerged from the game arbitrarily designate a "Partner A" and a "Partner B"; then each pair gets to plot their coordinates with Partner A on the X asis and Partner B on the Y. There's always a very nice scatterplot, as the demo itself produces pretty good matching. Even medium size correlations of r = .5 tend to look pretty vague in small-N scatterplots, but the patterns jump right out whenever I do this (with or without the actual statstistical calculation)." He adds: "The article mentioned might go nicely with a recent finding reported in the Journal of Family Psychology (I believe) showing that heterosexual relationships in which the man is slightly less attractive than the woman exhibit better interpersonal relationships. The interpretation - or at last one of them - is that one of the things that less attractive men offer to attract more attractive woman with a broader range of choices is greater attentiveness, willingness to listen, etc. I've only read a summary and haven't been able to get the original yet, so don't quote me on this. For a more formal and comprehensive treatment of using market and economic principles in an attempt to understand key elements of heterosexual relationships, I regularly assign the following article by Roy Baumeister and Kathleen Vohs. [Baumeister, Roy F; Vohs, Kathleen D. (2004). Sexual Economics: Sex as Female Resource for Social Exchange in Heterosexual Interactions. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 8, 339-363.] It always generates lots of reactions (ranging from amused to heated) and provides a good opportunity for talking about what one looks for or doesn't in good theory -- ability to parsimoniously explain a range of existing phenomena, ability to generate new testable predictions, use of principles that are "independently motivated" (developed for purposes other than for explaining the phenomena in question), etc. It also provides opportunities to talk about things like naturalistic fallacy errors and the temptation to evaluate psychological theories (provisional and testable descriptions of nature) by the way they make us feel or the social ends they might or might not serve." Here's a link to a related article. [added 5/3/08]
Can romance be rational? - a few good activities from Myers and DeWall [added 2/12/15]
The Similarity Project - In one version of this activity, starting in groups of four, students are asked to identify as many similarities as they can between their different groups. Then they join larger and larger groups to see if they can identify even more similarities. [added 12/29/11]
Playing a Facebook game - Dan Ariely has created a Facebook activity that he can use as a research tool and your students can use to learn about different social psychological phenomena. Of course, none of your students may be on Facebook... [added 4/1/11]
Morph your own faces - cool, online program in which you get to manipulate facial features [added 12/4/10]
Conversational analysis - Here is an activity from Jessica Collett's Social Psychology course in which students analyze possible conversations they might have. Here is some background info on conversational structure.[added 3/6/10]
Creating an "average" face - Interesting site lets you create an average face from images provided. The site also explains how these average faces are created. "You can also average your own uploaded faces!" [added 4/4/08]
Even more fun with faces - Robin Musselman used the "Human Race Machine" as part of a class to, well, I'll let Robin tell it:
"I try to think of an overarching theme each semester. In this particular semester it was the fall after the first face transplant and somewhere I had read something that this was a procedure that could have been done previously, but hadn't because of the significance of the face to individual's psyche. It really got me thinking and so I decided to use the face as a theme that fall.I don't necessarily tell students....here is the theme, but I try to interweave it throughout the semester. That same semester I was using wikis for the first time so the first day of class I took everyone's picture and then created a Who's Who in Psychology page with each class have an individual page for each student. I posted their first name and picture and then they could create from there. Introduce themselves to the class, if you will, and they continued to add to those pages throughout the semester. I gave students the right to remove their picture if they wanted to, but I think only one or two out of 120 did so.
We talked about face recognition in the brain section, perception allowed for some unique illusions with face symmetery and other facial illusions, in learning and memory we talked about remembering names and/or faces, we talked about facial _expression_, the baby's innate fascination of faces, culture and beauty, I can't remember all of the little and not so little tie ins off the top of my head. I used the film Faces (with John Cleese) and the books, The Autobiography of the face, and another book (not the companion to the video Faces) The Face, which was a great resource. About 2/3 into the semester I had arranged for the Human Race Machine to come onto campus for a week and students could transform their faces into another race as well as age themselves 20 years. Students really were fascinated by this (I had seen it at a museum in Maryland....for info see, http://www.humanracemachine.com/faq.html
At the end of the semester we used the facial recognition software and many students posted those images that were "supposed" to look like them on their wiki pages. Again, students really enjoyed it and in fact, I had promised that three weeks after the semester I would "take down" the wiki pages with student pictures, etc. and then I had several students contact me asking if I still had their pages so they could transfer them to another site. All in all it was a fun semester."[added 4/4/08]
Face Filter - fun site where one can morph a face to fit several emotional responses and types of attractiveness [added 4/06/04]
Mere exposure effect[added 3/31/04]
Multimedia Resources (Audio / Video)
Audio
“Swiping me off my feet on Tinder”(13:35) - a podcast from Science of Relationships (now Luvze)
Anticipating change in the relationship and relationship quality - a podcast from Science of Relationships (now Luvze)
Facial contrast and Kim Kardashian's ... - a podcast
Coalitional mate retention - If you want to prevent your partner from cheater, here's what you need to know. A podcast
"How parents meddle in their children's love lives" - a podcast
"Stress and resolving disagreements immediately" - a podcast from Relationship Matters - [added 2/17/15]
Stress and conflict in relationships - A podcast from Science of Relationships -- Are there any podcasts you have your students listen to outside of class and then discuss in class or have them respond to in some other way? Let me know. [added 2/17/15]
"The link between relationship quality and oxytocin" - a podcast from Science of Relationships[added 2/17/15]
"Can we keep passion alive?" - a Relationship Matters podcast [added 2/12/15]
"Transcending shame and seeking forgiveness" - a podcast from Science of Relationships[added 2/18/14]
Relationship Matters Podcast Series - Listen to experts in their fields discuss their work -- affiliated with the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.[added 6/27/12]
The secret of pronouns - NPR interviews James Pennebaker about his fascinating research on the use of pronouns and their relationship to dating.[added 6/26/12]
Am I Normal (Sexually)? - interesting, 30-minute episode in BBC radio's Am I Normal series[added 1/20/12]
Video
Russell Brand's take on the Renee Zellweger kurfaffle - (7:40) Watch comedian Russell Brand at the first link. Read here to learn more about the controversy.[added 2/17/15]
Miss America pageants - (15:24) John Oliver takes them on in this segment from his show, Last Week Tonight. [added 2/17/15]
"The economic benefits of physical attractiveness" - (1:49)[added 2/17/15]
Why are men reluctant to date overweight women? - (7:27) Comedian Louis C. K. gives his take on the subject in this compelling scene from his tv show. Well worth watching. A good discussion starter. Here is a link to a conversation with the actress who played the overweight woman in the clip. Here is a description and video of comedy clip about overweight women that has received less attention. [added 2/12/15]
Does more effort equal a better relationship? - (6:06) Dubbed the Benjamin Franklin effect, this video describes a study investigating what happens when one partner puts a lot of effort into a relationship. Via Wikipedia, the Benjamin Franklin effect is illustrated when "a person who has done someone a favor is more likely to do that person another favor than they would be if they had received a favor from that person. Similarly, one who harms another is more willing to harm them again than the victim is to retaliate." As Ben himself told me, "He that has once done you a kindness will be more ready to do you another, than he whom you yourself have obliged." [added 2/12/15]Why are babies so cute? - (2:12) [added 2/12/15]
Medley of men's breakup songs - (5:24) [added 2/12/15]
How the ideal female body has changed in the last 100 years - (1:58) [added 2/12/15]
Is loneliness lethal? - (18:45) A TED talk from John Cacioppo [added 2/12/15]
"It's NOT about the nail" - (1:42) You have to see this one -- a great take on male/female communication. [added 2/12/15]
The science of kissing - (5:51) [added 2/12/15]Why we don't want to be alone - (2:49)[added 2/18/14]
Bad first date - (2:44) Fun video. Maybe you can ask your students if they have been the giver or receiver of such persistence? How would they respond? [added 8/5/13]
Passionate love - (41:35) presentation by Elaine Hatfield at the 2012 APS convention[added 8/5/13]
An amusing ad - (0:45) That's all I can say. I don't want to give it away. Like some people. [added 12/07/12]
Expedia creates dramatic ad for marriage equality - (3:20)[added 12/07/12]
Why your soulmate isn't that special (mathematically, that is) - (3:59) A great song by Tim Minchin -- thank you Science of Relationships (http://www.scienceofrelationships.com/) for making me aware of it! [added 6/27/12]
Pheromone Parties! - (4:22) This story from the Science of Relationships includes a video clip from the Colbert Report describing a dating fad: Attending pheromone parties. [added 6/26/12]
"Love in a backward world" - (5:01) for your entertainment[added 6/26/12]Flipping male/female roles in relationships - amusing video - in two parts [added 6/25/12]
Third date = sex? - (1:44) A clip from the show The Big Bang Theory raises the question of whether "the idea that the third date is the 'sex date,' the date when it is deemed appropriate for a new couple to have sex" is a social norm or just a myth. [added 1/21/12]
Mating and loss aversion - (4:21) Steven Neuberg and his colleagues Yexin Jessica Li and Douglas Kenrick "discuss their research on how evolutionary motives such as mating and self-protection influence individuals' sensitivity to loss aversion." [added 1/21/12]
Technology and relationships - (2:47) Psychologist discusses research on our heavy consumption of technology and its link to relationship happiness/success. When you are done reading this issue at your computer or phone make sure that you go share it with a partner or kid or Juggalo. [added 1/21/12]Dating and irrationality - (6:01) Dan Ariely discusses decision making in the dating scene. Here - (5:28) is a second video on the topic. [added 1/20/12]
What is French kissing called in France? - (1:52) Here's a cute little video montage of kissing accompanied by some facts including the answer to the above question. [added 1/20/12]
Does spousal conflict impair the immune system? - (6:14) video and text describing an interesting study testing this question [added 1/20/12]
Extreme photo retouching - (2:29) This video illustrates how many of the images we see are often modified to eliminate blemishes and make more appealing. [added 8/14/11]Why online dating is so unsatisfying - (7:41) Watch an interview with Dan Ariely discussing the topic. [added 12/16/10]
Hikikomori in Japan - (9:35) This form of social isolation, Hikikomori, in which, typically, young boys and men lock themselves in their rooms for years in some cases, appears to be fairly unique to Japan. This link takes you to Part 1 of the video. You can find Part 2 on the video page. [added 1/15/10]
Propinquity - (3:54) That's physical proximity to you young whippersnappers. Here's a song ("Somebody") from Reba McEntire that captures well our tendency to choose from those nearby.[added 12/12/07]
Class Assignments
Exam Questions
Here is an excellent pandemic-related essay question from Molly Metz: Here is an essay question I used on my final exam for my close relationships course - Read this article and watch these videos: Part1 / Part 2 / Part 3. Using concepts from multiple lectures and the textbook/readings, develop an analysis of this relationship. What are the factors that contributed to the initiation of this relationship? What is the current state of the relationship? In your opinion, is this relationship likely to persist for the duration of isolation? How about longer? Your analysis should be fully developed and should draw on content across multiple course topics. Make sure all key terms and theories are fully defined and applied. PANDEMIC
Projects
Attraction and Relationships - Now that the excellent Science of Relationships site has been around a bit (at least in Internet time), it has accumulated a number of good resources for teaching. The site creators have graciously compiled some of those resources and assignments at the link above. [added 12/12/12]
Ratings of attractiveness - Ever seen any of those "Am I hot or not" sites? Here is a long list of them that perhaps you or your students can use in some project. [added 1/10/06]
Paper Assignments
Analyzing a play - Chuck Huff asks his students to view three plays during his Social Psychology course: Macbeth (two versions) and A Streetcar Named Desire. Then he asks them to analyze the plays in terms of how close relationships are portrayed.
Variety from an Intimate Relationships course - Gary Lewandowski lets students choose from a variety of assignments including comparing popular press claims versus the research and creating a "how to" guide for relationship success. [added 3/1/05]
Examples
Attraction
Mere exposure effect[added 3/31/04]
Evolutionary Factors - Seinfeld Episode: Evolutionary factors in mate selection can be seen in the episode in which they try to fix up George with a date. He asks questions about his potential date's physical attributes and she asks questions about George's status, power and resources. Contributed by Steve Fein. [added 4/28/02]
Physical attractiveness - Physical attractiveness plays a big role in how we think of and respond to people. I've worked as a summer camp counselor for the past two years and you have to try and treat each kid the same but it is inevitable that you will have favorites. I remember one year there were two really bad kids in particular who were always getting into trouble. One was a little girl who was so cute. She always had a cute little outfit on, here little ears were pierced, and was hilarious. But she was always getting herself into trouble or not listening. The other kid was a little overweight and not so attractive boy who also knew just how to muster up trouble. But when it came to punishing the two it was hard to be equal and fair and generally what tended to happen is the cute girl would get away with a lot more. She could somehow get us to forget or be less mad about the trouble she had caused and distract us with her humor or by other tactics. And the little boy would often get in more trouble and get a lot less positive attention....Thinking back, my favorite kids have never really been unattractive, and I even feel horrible admitting that, but it's true. [added 4/16/08]
Physical Attractiveness - Something funny came to mind while I was looking over the section on physical attractiveness. Specifically, I was looking at the idea that attractive children are given the benefit of the doubt more often than less attractive children. This is so true! I work with two three-year-old boys that can look at me with their respective sets of baby blues and browns and melt me to the ground. It is so difficult to discipline a child that looks so cute when they look at you. In these situations, I consciously have to think about what I'm doing in order to discipline the gorgeous kids the same way I treat the other children.Physical Attractiveness - North Central College uses the "attractive" idea to persuade people to attend the college. While going to class on a couple of days, I remember seeing a photographer on campus taking pictures of two or three attractive young students. I instantly thought of the course catalogue. The young people on the cover will help emphasize the stereotype of the student's physical appearance: happy, intelligent, kind, sociable and successful.
Physical proximity (propinquity) - Why do co-stars fall in love, this blog entry asks?
Propinquity (physical proximity)...again! - another good example -- a spoof from The Onion -- hat tip to Jeff Ricker for this one [added 12/26/07]
Propinquity - Here's a song ("Somebody") from Reba McEntire that captures well our tendency to choose from those nearby. [added 12/12/07]
Propinquity (Physical Proximity) - When we discussed the idea that we make friends with those close to us this made me think of the floor that I live on now. Last year when we saw who was going to live on our floor we were very upset. Our end of the hall was all football players but the other end was all soccer players. Normally football hates soccer. At first things were a little tense but after a while some friendships developed. Because they were close it was easy to see if they wanted to go eat or go out or something and we found out they aren't as bad as we thought. If they didn't live close we would probably hate them still.
Relationships
Equity -- there's a common source of argument. Does one person doing garbage equate to the other ironing? Does one person doing laundry equate to the other vacuuming? Early on in our marriage these issues cropped up frequently. Now as I look at it, 16 years later, these just aren't issues anymore. Each does what has to be done as it needs doing. Sometimes one of us has more time than the other. Consideration of the other's needs creates the equity anymore -- not the amount of equal effort. That's where the twist builds from because you know the other person will be there for you.
Equity - When we first married, I worked full-time while my husband finished college (before my liberated days). This was out of concern for his and our welfare. I did not expect anything in return. Now sixteen years and a family later, I am going to finish school. It is not easy. My personality takes a real nose dive during semesters. My energy level is good for squat. My husband does 75% of the housework. (The other 25% doesn't get done.) My level of patience will never get me a mother-of-the-year award. Yet in one of my reflective, depressive moods last year, I asked my husband why he put up with it. His response was "you put me through school years ago; it's the least I can do now." That is love.
Topic Resources
"'Being fun' is an important marker of social status among children"
Why do we laugh? The same reason other species do… - social bonding, and survival.
Most popular teens? Those that are aggressive AND nice
Are we really that awkward at conversations? - “’We not only find that people report feeling under confident in their ability to engage in casual conversations,’ says Boothby, ‘they also tend to attribute the worst moments of the conversations - awkward pauses, conversational missteps - to themselves as opposed to their conversation partner.’ The reality, suggests Boothby, is that things are not as bad as they seem; people are very forgiving in conversations.”
What makes you feel loved? - Researchers presented 60 different scenarios to people (e.g., a child snuggling up to you; someone paying you a compliment) and asked them whether or not most people would feel loved in that situation.
The ovulation “crisis” - Here is a fascinating article about the rise and fall and rebirth of the evolutionary field of research related to changes in perceptions of women and by women as they move through their ovulation cycle. When women move into their more fertile phase, are they rated as more attractive? Are they more likely to wear red or pink? Do they prefer a more manly body type? What research findings have held up and which have fallen in the face of more careful examination?
Sexual posing (not baring skin) leads to automatic objectification
“Why playing hard to get won’t get you anywhere” - Science.
“The IQ score people say is most attractive” - 120, according to this research. I’ve got to shave off a few points.
Men and women interpret sexual intent very differently
"Loneliness and self-centeredness appear to be mutually reinforcing"
"15 common social quirks that make you less likeable"
The psychology of eye contact - a good review of some of the research
Sexual arousal increased risk-taking in men and women equally
What do you share on Facebook? - Interesting research reveals some relationships between postings, motivations, and personality.
How a perfume company convinced scientists of human pheromones
Flower power! - "But can the mere presence of flowers influence actual relationship behavior? To test this question, a French researcher randomly assigned female participants to watch a video of a male discussing food while participants were either (a) sitting in a room decorated with three vases full of flowers (roses, marigolds, and daisies), or (b) sitting in a room decorated with empty vases. Women who sat in the room with flowers rated the male in the video as sexier and more attractive, and they were more willing to date him." Read also about the two very cool follow-up studies. [added 2/12/15]
Those liked face-to-face are also liked online - [added 7/11/09]
Small world research on instant messaging - Answer: 6.6 degrees of separation [added 10/11/08]
The paradox of poygamy - "Contrary to popular belief, most women benefit from polygynous society, and most men benefit from monogamous society. This is because polygynous society allows some women to share a resourceful man of high status."[added 4/13/08]
Subliminal smells and likeability - story of research finding that in humans consciously undetectable odors alter social preferences [added 3/21/08]
Laughter is the way we connect - an article about research on the role laughter plays in our social world [added 11/17/07]
"Subliminal nude pictures focus attention" - research interpreted to suggest an evolutionary benefit for attending to sexual stimuli [added 12/30/06]
"Beast buddies: Do animals have friends?" - an intriguing question and article from ScienceNews[added 6/9/04]
Like Those Who Like Us
“People like you more than you know” - Most of the time we have an exaggerated perception of ourselves, but we often don’t think others do. And remember the recent research that found that we think others’ social lives are much more exciting than our own.
We like those who like us - [added 2/12/15]
Propinquity (Physical Proximity)
It’s a small world - No, I’m not going to start singing. But I would recommend this essay about our social networks, and how technology has affected them.
Propinquity matters - That’s what I just told my class. My online class.
Long-distance relationships cartoon - Ahh, propinquity. [added 1/29/12]
"18-year-old miraculously finds soulmate in hometown" - an amusing article from the satirical online newspaper The Onion -- ahh, propinquity! [added 12/30/06]
Similarity
“People prefer strangers who share their political views to friends who don’t” - We are becoming more and more polarized.
Similarity promotes friendship; friendship promotes similarity - For years I have asked an exam question in which students must explain how propinquity (physical proximity) perpetuates similarity and how similarity perpetuates propinquity. Here’s an interesting variation on that bidirectional causality.
“Why we love people, places, things that resemble us” - Look at me – is that so hard to believe?
“No, opposites do not attract” - I can’t wait until we get this replication failure.
Ahh, the name game - This blog entry looks at implicit egotism in our desire for people (and things) that share the initials of our own names. Even Prince Harry.
"Your first date: Make sure your genes fit" - "People can now check that their genes fit. Yep, genes -- as in our DNA -- before going on a first date." [added 2/17/15]
More attracted to body odor of those who vote like us - Seriously. Wow. [added 2/17/15]
"Shared pain brings people together" - [added 2/17/15]
"Likes attract, but do they last?" - The answer is what I tell my students to write on psych exams if they have no clue to the answer: It depends! In this case the research suggests that it depends on the partners' levels of self-control. [added 8/5/13]
Similar music tastes indicate similar values which foretells attraction - [added 7/2/12]
Interpersonal Relationships
Romantic RelationshipsLove
Love - The APS Observer has several good articles on the topic in its February (2019) issue.
Love and marriage - a number of good articles from APS on the topic
The science of love - a series of articles about current research on relationships
"10 comics that show what polyamorous love is really like"
Reduced grey matter when falling in love - What?? According to this research, those early in a romantic relationship have less grey matter in a specific region in the brain. So, if you have that area lesioned, will you fall in love with the first person you see after the operation?
"Why love literally hurts" - an APS Observer article looking at the neural link between social and physical pain [added 8/5/13]
New love - interesting New York Times article on the research of new love [added 8/5/13]
"Who says 'I love you' first in a relationship?" - [added 7/2/12]
"Love is blind. Your friends aren't." - Blog entry describes research on whether you can predict your own relationship's breakup better than your friends can. [added 1/29/12]
"Love is abstract, but sex is concrete" - Here is some interesting research on how generating abstract versus concrete construals can affect how we think about relationships. If you have some difficulty explaining the concept of construals to your students, this example provides a nice way of describing the concept. [added 1/29/12]"Does falling in love make us more creative?" - "A new study demonstrates that thinking about love--but not about sex--causes us to think more 'globally,' making it easier to come up with new ideas." [added 1/18/10]
What does new love look like? - a New York Times article describing some research in which brain scans were conducted of newly-in-love individuals while they were looking at pictures of their beloved [added 7/06/07]
The science of love: BBC / PBS - two different sites addressing this question [added 4/05/04]
Dating
"Your first date: Make sure your genes fit" - "People can now check that their genes fit. Yep, genes -- as in our DNA -- before going on a first date." [added 2/17/15]
Could you date a Democrat/Republican/Libertarian...?[added 1/29/12]
Dating equation: half your age + 7 years - "A common rule of thumb, at least on the internet, is that it’s okay to be interested in someone 'half your age plus seven' years. According to this rule, it would not be creepy for a 30 year old to date a 22 year-old, but an 18 year-old would be off-limits. Although this is a fun rule of thumb, what does research say about age preferences for potential mates?" [added 1/29/12]
Mimicry during speed dating - "Women hoping to appeal to speed-dating partners should try subtly mimicking the words and body-language of their dates. That's according to Nicholas Gueguen whose new study shows that women who mimic are rated by men as more sexually attractive." [added 1/18/10]
Speed dating - good article describing how the phenomenon of speed dating has provided a wealth of opportunities for research [added 7/11/09]
Online Dating
“Most online daters seek partners who are out of their league”
How Tinder changed dating - an interesting essay on how dating was quite different not so long ago
Too many fish in the sea - Sometimes too much choice is overwhelming, particularly with online dating. Maybe rekindling is the way to go.
"Dating apps linked to rise in interracial marriages" (1:52)
"Why do people swipe right (or left) on Tinder" - a nice infographic describing some research on the question
Who seeks out whom on dating sites? - Does my own perceived social mate value affect it? Does the matching hypothesis hold?
Couples increasingly meet online - David Myers addresses a number of issues related to how the Internet has changed our lives, but I put it here because I really like the graph he included on this topic.
We don't trust the "perfect" online dating profile - a little too perfect
OKCupid's user experiments - You may have heard that Facebook is running little experiments on its users. It was recently revealed that a large dating site, OKCupid is doing the same. "One experiment linked users up with people who were deemed a bad match — a 30 percent compatibility rate based on OKCupid’s algorithm. OKCupid labeled these bad matches as being 90 percent compatible to see if people could “like” each other even if they had nothing in common." [added 2/17/15]
"The science behind 3 popular dating apps" - [added 8/5/13]
Online dating - Review research about dealing with all the choices [added 1/12/13]
Online dating - This blog entry provides a good compilation of research on online dating. [added 10/30/10]
Online dating - interesting blog entry about how online dating has been frustrating, leading to some new approaches [added 6/6/08]
Marriage and Divorce
Funny tweets about living with a spouse
28 humorous tweets about marriage
"Dating apps linked to rise in interracial marriages" (1:52)
"How self _expression_ replaced love as the most important part of a marriage" - interesting historical essay by Eli Finkel about the evolution of marriage in the U.S.
"What's it like to be engaged in the 21st century?" - The fine folks (researchers) at Science of Relationships in collaboration with the Loving Lab (awww) at the University of Texas at Austin are studying this underinvestigated question. They will be releasing results on the Science of Relationships site in the coming days, but they offer a nice infographic with their main questions and a sneak peak at some of their results at the above link.
Can a good marriage make you healthier? - "As the scientists report in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science. Perceived responsiveness was associated with both steeper cortisol slope and higher wakeup cortisol level. Importantly, this link between responsiveness and healthy cortisol was driven, at least in part, by diminishing negative emotions over the decade. In other words, believing that one’s partner cares—this perception leads to a decline in negative emotions, which in turn affects cortisol—and ultimately health."
Negative effects of emotional suppression - "The team found marital quality decreased over the study period to the extent that husbands suppressed their emotions during that time."
How to handle divorce - Two researchers at Science of Relationships bravely discuss their impending divorce and what research suggests are the best ways for them to deal with it. [added 2/17/15]
"Marriage approval versus legal status" - a great graph from xkcd comics [added 2/17/15]
Heredity and marital satisfaction - I always thought my wife looked cute in those genes. [added 2/12/15]
Unconscious, rather than conscious, evaluations good predictors of marriage satisfaction - Or as the author of this article, Ben Le, states, "our unconscious feelings about our partners might be the Magic 8-Ball when it comes to future marriage satisfaction." [added 2/18/14]
When husbands provide sensitive support - ... it benefits the relationship [added 8/5/13]
"Lack of matching between partners predicts divorce" - [added 1/12/13]
Is cohabitation detrimental to marriage?
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