6 Things to Do to Improve Your Relationship
In the past I've covered the research regarding what you should look for in a marriage partner. What do studies say about what you can do to improve your relationship?, Divorce may have less to do with an increase in conflict and more to do with a decrease in positive feelings. Boredom really can hurt a relationship, We spend a lot of time trying to reduce conflict but not enough time experiencing thrills. And the latter may be more important. Via Flourish A Visionary New Understanding of Happiness and Well-being, The research points again and again to how important thrills are, So do something exciting. Go dancing together or anything else you can both participate in as a couple. Being a little deluded helps marriages, And it's not just true for marriages, Keep that ratio in mind. You need five good things for every bad thing in order to keep a happy relationship, A 2.9 1 means you are headed for a divorce. You need a 5 1 ratio to predict a strong and loving marriage five positive statements for every critical statement you make of your spouse. And when you're dealing with your mother-in-law the ratio is 1000 to 1. I'm not kidding. Conscientiousness is the trait most associated with marital satisfaction, our findings suggest that conscientiousness is the trait most broadly associated with marital satisfaction in this sample of long-wed couples. Actually, you can kill a lot of birds with this one stone because it's also associated with longevity, income, job satisfaction and health. Gratitude can be a booster shot for a relationship , gratitude had uniquely predictive power in relationship promotion, perhaps acting as a booster shot for the relationship. It can even create a self-perpetuating positive feedback loop, Thus, the authors' findings add credence to their model, in that gratitude contributes to a reciprocal process of relationship maintenance, whereby each partner's maintenance behaviors, perceptions of responsiveness, and feelings of gratitude feed back on and influence the other's behaviors, perceptions, and feelings. Sounds silly but it's true. Want a better relationship? Try. Sounds ridiculous but, Join 45K+ readers. Get a free weekly update via email here. Related posts, The Science Of "Happily Ever After" 3 Things That Keep Love Alive, What are the four things that kill relationships?, What are the 5 things that make love last?, This piece originally appeared on Barking Up the Wrong Tree.