The Marriage Test


Book Description

A crash course in commitment: one couple and forty dates that could make or break their marriage before the wedding. Picking a partner is life’s most important decision, but how are we supposed to make it? Being in love is a good start, but the issues that ultimately wreck marriages—money and monogamy, career and kids—are hard to gauge until you’re actually hitched. So after a few years of dating, Jill Andres and Brook Silva-Braga built The Marriage Test to confirm their compatibility before saying “I do.” Forty revealing challenges simulate the issues that could tank or strengthen their union. For a month, they swap credit cards, for a weekend they borrow a baby. An embarrassing lunch with their exes tests their trust issues. Sexual gymnastics are required to recreate TV love scenes. From a night of speed dating to 24 hours handcuffed together, the crazy, awkward, emotional trials fling them headfirst into assorted marital minefields. Is their love strong enough to weather real life? Only forty dates will tell...




The Flirtation Experiment


Book Description

From popular Christian voices Lisa Jacobson and Phylicia Masonheimer, The Flirtation Experiment inspires you to strengthen your marriage with a fun, unexpected approach that leads to the depth, richness, and closeness you desire. Romance novels, Hallmark movies . . . the immense demand for romantic stories reveals a deep, unsatisfied longing that can be found in many marriages, but does it have to be that way? Is it possible that the best marriage has to offer can grow, rather than fade after you say “I do”? Lisa and Phylicia say, “Absolutely yes!” So what is the secret to a happy, thriving, loving marriage, where the fire of romance and close friendship do not fade? While The Flirtation Experiment includes the frisky side of marriage, it’s far more than a good romp. By degrees, each chapter takes you to a deeper place, covering themes every beautiful marriage has in common, such as covenant, healing, and hope. After reading The Flirtation Experiment, wives will be filled with hope and encouragement for how they can make a powerful, positive change in their marriages, become empowered to pursue their husbands romantically, understand the Bible invites women to be proactive in their marriages, be motivated to consistently love in creative ways, and forge closeness and intimacy in their marriages. “Intentional flirting keeps a positive lightness in the atmosphere and improves our overall communication,” says Jacobson. “My light flirtations bring us closer in meaningful ways and lead to connection on a deeper level. It helps us discover true romance waiting for us in everyday situations.” Perfect for the wife who wants romance, passion, and the closeness that only comes from a deep heart connection but isn’t sure where to start, The Flirtation Experiment is a candid, real-life record of two Christian women from different seasons of life who discovered they could make a significant impact on their marriage relationships, one small flirtatious experiment at a time. Readers can go deeper by using The Flirtation Experiment Workbook.




The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work


Book Description

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • Over a million copies sold! “An eminently practical guide to an emotionally intelligent—and long-lasting—marriage.”—Daniel Goleman, author of Emotional Intelligence The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work has revolutionized the way we understand, repair, and strengthen marriages. John Gottman’s unprecedented study of couples over a period of years has allowed him to observe the habits that can make—and break—a marriage. Here is the culmination of that work: the seven principles that guide couples on a path toward a harmonious and long-lasting relationship. Straightforward yet profound, these principles teach partners new approaches for resolving conflicts, creating new common ground, and achieving greater levels of intimacy. Gottman offers strategies and resources to help couples collaborate more effectively to resolve any problem, whether dealing with issues related to sex, money, religion, work, family, or anything else. Packed with new exercises and the latest research out of the esteemed Gottman Institute, this revised edition of The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work is the definitive guide for anyone who wants their relationship to attain its highest potential.




The Mathematics of Marriage


Book Description

Divorce rates are at an all-time high. But without a theoretical understanding of the processes related to marital stability and dissolution, it is difficult to design and evaluate new marriage interventions. The Mathematics of Marriage provides the foundation for a scientific theory of marital relations. The book does not rely on metaphors, but develops and applies a mathematical model using difference equations. The work is the fulfillment of the goal to build a mathematical framework for the general system theory of families first suggested by Ludwig Von Bertalanffy in the 1960s.The book also presents a complete introduction to the mathematics involved in theory building and testing, and details the development of experiments and models. In one "marriage experiment," for example, the authors explored the effects of lowering or raising a couple's heart rates. Armed with their mathematical model, they were able to do real experiments to determine which processes were affected by their interventions. Applying ideas such as phase space, null clines, influence functions, inertia, and uninfluenced and influenced stable steady states (attractors), the authors show how other researchers can use the methods to weigh their own data with positive and negative weights. While the focus is on modeling marriage, the techniques can be applied to other types of psychological phenomena as well.




The Marriage Experiment


Book Description

As an amateur lepidopterist, Adriana Coffey would like nothing more than to live a quiet life in the country and await Cyrus Shaw’s return from his grand tour. After all, an understanding has existed between them since childhood. Unfortunately, with Cyrus out of the country, a marriage is arranged with her detestable stepbrother. Dawson Shaw, the new Earl of Westhorpe, would like nothing more than to grab his younger brother up by the nape and shake some sense into him. Adriana is intelligent, beautiful, and unappreciated by society and his scapegrace brother. But is he willing to betray Cyrus in order to fulfill his own longings? Adriana feels like she has no choice but to accept Dawson’s offer of marriage. Unlike the charming Cyrus, Dawson is aloof and cold… or is he? Their marriage is proof that assumptions can be disproven. The attraction between them is altogether unexpected and new for Adriana. But will their growing connection survive the coming tempest when Cyrus finally returns?




Fierce Marriage


Book Description

Ryan and Selena Frederick were newlyweds when they landed in Switzerland to pursue Selena's dream of training horses. Neither of them knew at the time that Ryan was living out a death sentence brought on by a worsening genetic heart defect. Soon it became clear he needed major surgery that could either save his life--or result in his death on the operating table. The young couple prepared for the worst. When Ryan survived, they both realized that they still had a future together. But the near loss changed the way they saw all that would lie ahead. They would live and love fiercely, fighting for each other and for a Christ-centered marriage, every step of the way. Fierce Marriage is their story, but more than that, it is a call for married couples to put God first in their relationship, to measure everything they do and say to each other against what Christ did for them, and to see marriage not just as a relationship they should try to keep healthy but also as one worth fighting for in every situation. With the gospel as their foundation, Ryan and Selena offer hope and practical help for common struggles in marriage, including communication problems, sexual frustration, financial stress, family tension, screen-time disconnection, and unrealistic expectations.




Marital Interaction


Book Description

Marital Interaction: Experimental Investigations deals with experimental studies on marital interaction. Emphasis is on the importance of the role of description in the study of social interaction. Methods for the analysis of pattern and sequence, including cross-spectral time-series analysis, are also presented. Comprised of 15 chapters, this book begins with a historical review of several research traditions that have concerned themselves with families and marriages: the sociological tradition; the family therapy or systems tradition; the social learning tradition; and the developmental tradition. Research that points to the potential importance of the observation of consensual decision-making processes is also reviewed. A model of marital interaction called the Structural Model, which can be used to predict changes in marital satisfaction, is described. Subsequent chapters focus on the Couples Interaction Scoring System, an observational system for categorizing marital interaction; modern concepts of the assessment of reliability, particularly the stringent assessment that is necessary for sequential analysis; differences between well-functioning and poorly functioning marriages; couples' interactional styles in terms of communication skill deficits; and the concept of an individual's social competence. This monograph will be of interest to psychologists engaged in research on marriage, as well as sociologists and clinical researchers.




Experiments for Newlyweds


Book Description

From Shaun Gallagher, the author of Experimenting with Babies! You've said your vows and cut the cake. Congratulations, and welcome to the greatest experiment of all—marriage! Marriage, or any long-term committed partnership, involves two subjects being exposed to a variety of scenarios and variables over time, hopefully leading to exciting discoveries throughout a long, successful relationship. In Experiments for Newlyweds, you'll find fifty science projects, based on real academic research in fields such as psychology, game theory, and more, designed for you and your partner to complete together. Uncover the ways your emotions can alter your perception of the world around you, explore the connection between language and memory, and examine your relationship through a scientific lens. With Experiments for Newlyweds as your guide, you and your spouse can learn more about one another, engage your inner scientist, and have fun strengthening your relationship. The perfect funny wedding gag gift for couples or honeymoon gift for couples, this book will lead you to some exciting breakthroughs! Experiments for Newlyweds is the perfect wedding or gag bridal shower gift (or as a gift for the groom!) and will be a hit at engagement parties.




40 Days of Dating


Book Description

“What would happen if Harry met Sally in the age of Tinder and Snapchat? . . . A field guide to Millennial dating in New York City” (New York Daily News). When New York–based graphic designers and long-time friends Timothy Goodman and Jessica Walsh found themselves single at the same time, they decided to try an experiment. The old adage says that it takes forty days to change a habit—could the same be said for love? So they agreed to date each other for forty days, record their experiences in questionnaires, photographs, videos, texts, and artworks, and post the material on a website they would create for this purpose. What began as a small experiment between two friends became an Internet sensation, drawing five million unique (and obsessed) visitors from around the globe to their site and their story. 40 Days of Dating: An Experiment is a beautifully designed, expanded look at the experiment and the results, including a great deal of material that never made it onto the site, such as who they were as friends and individuals before the forty days and who they have become since.




The Marriage Clinic Casebook


Book Description

The Marriage Clinic Casebook bridges the gap between the powerful theory behind Gottman Method Couples Therapy and the unique application of therapeutic principles to real-life cases. Covering a broad range of couples as well as a variety of relational problems, this casebook is a resource for clinicians who want practical guidance for putting the powerful Gottman method to work.