NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY – Feb 7 – Marital satisfaction, so critical to health and happiness, generally declines over time. A brief writing intervention that helps spouses adopt a more objective outlook on marital conflict could be the answer. New Northwestern University research shows that this writing intervention, implemented through just three, seven-minute writing exercises prevents couples from losing that loving feeling. The study involved 120 couples, half assigned the reappraisal intervention and the other not. Every four months for two years all spouses reported their relationship satisfaction, love, intimacy, trust, passion and commitment. The reappraisal writing task asked participants to think about their most recent disagreement with their partner from the perspective of a neutral third party. Both groups exhibited declines in marital quality over Year 1. But for the spouses who experienced the reappraisal intervention — who completed the writing exercise three times during Year 2 — the decline in marital satisfaction was entirely eliminated.
by Hilary Hurd Anyaso
See full article at Northwestern University