Five types of married couples

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James Murray, Professor, University of Oxford did a study with 700 newlywed couples that began in 1992.  Each were required to discuss contentious issues, such as money, sex, housing or in-laws, for 15 minutes.  Positive or negative points were awarded for each expression-such as affection, humour, eye-rolling, or mockery.  Predictions of ‘stable’ or  ‘unstable’  were made.  For 12 years the couples were tracked regularly to assess their marriage.There was 94 percent success rate. 

According to him, here are the five type of married couples:

a) Volatile:  Could go either way: romantic, passionate, heated arguments with cycles of fights and sex

b) Validating:  Stable; calmer, intimate, value companionship, shared experiences rather than individuality

c) Avoiders: Stable, avoid confrontation and conflict, interact only in positive range of their emotions.

d) Hostile: Unstable; conflict – avoiding wife, validating husband

e) Hostile Detached: Unstable; volatile husband , validating wife. 

 (The Mathematics of True Love, Readers Digest, December 2009, p. 22)

Which type are you? Do you agree with this categorization?

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