What Predicts Divorce?

This book details years of research involving questionnaires and observations of married couples in pursuit of the determinants of both marital happiness and divorce. It will be of interest to family and clinical psychologists and methodologists.

John Mordechai Gottman

Contents: Introduction. What Makes Some Marriages Magical and Some Miserable? Raising the Questions. Terman's Question: What Makes for Marital Happiness? The View From Observational Methods. Longitudinal Change in Marital Happiness: Observing Physiology as Well as Marital Interaction. Marital Processes That Predict Dissolution. In What Sense Are Regulated Couples Regulated? Is Conflict Avoidance Dysfunctional? Conflict Avoidance and the Behavior of the Listener: Toward a Typology of Marriage. There Are Two Types of Conflict Engagers. A Balance Theory of Marriage. There Are Two Types of Nonregulated Couples. Male Withdrawal From Marital Conflict. Replication and Extension. Physiology During Marital Interaction. Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Marital Stability. Eight-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study. Recommendations for a Stable Marriage. Epilogue. Appendix: The Observational Coding Systems.