Blink, Marriage and Anger

Malcolm Gladwell, in his new best-seller book "Blink," sites the marital research of  John Gottman showing that for a marriage to survive, the ratio of positive to negative emotion in a given encounter has to be at least five to one. I (Tony Fiore, Ph.D.) studied recently with the Gottman Institute in Seattle, and can attest to the validity of this marital truth: Few marriages can survive more negativity (like anger or contempt) than positivity for very long.  For relationships to have a chance, a couple must find a way to increase their positive interactions or least interprete problems or issues in a more positive way. All couples have problems and issues; what separates successful from unsuccessful couples is  ability to repair the emotional damage done during conflicts.