News Articles

By JENNIFER ROBACK MORSE Thinking of moving in with your significant other, just to see if marriage is a good idea? Turns out living together isn't all it's cracked up to be. The Census reports a 72 percent increase in the number of cohabiting couples since 1990. Unfortunately, research shows that cohabitation is correlated with greater likelihood of unhappiness, and domestic violence in the relationship. Cohabiting couple report lower levels of satisfaction in the relationship than married couples. Women are more likely to be abused by a cohabiting boyfriend than a husband. Children are more likely to abused by [...]

by Harry Benson, MARCH 16, 2022 Highlights Marriage isn’t a guarantee of success. But in a world where all of us mess up, get in bad moods, behave badly sometimes, and treat others not very well, we need something that helps give us a chance.  Marriage has three ingredients that are more like options for cohabitation: it involves a decision, a plan, and the support of friends and family.  Friends and family support marriage by affirming the choice we’ve made and holding us to account for that choice.   It would be easy to think that marriage is on the way out. Indeed, [...]

Charlotte Hilton Andersen Feb. 17, 2022 TheHealthy.com Emotional manipulators use gaslighting and other shifty techniques to get what they want from you. Peruse these manipulation quotes so you can recognize this behavior quickly, and stop it in its tracks. If you’ve ever been emotionally manipulated—and really, who hasn’t at some point or another?—then it’s likely your experience left you searching for answers. In fact, psychoanalyst Robin Stern, PhD, co-founder and Associate Director for the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence, tells The Healthy that sheer confusion is one of the hallmark signs that someone’s just taken you for a ride. Adds Amelia Kelley, PhD, therapist, author, [...]

Many people don’t realize how much porn is affecting them until they quit watching it. Here are 50 good reasons to ditch it today. With the easy access to an unlimited, ever-increasing supply of porn these days, it shouldn’t come as a surprise that porn is having an effect on peoples’ lives. In fact, there is an ever-growing body of research showing that porn can have profoundly negative, long-term effects on people’s lives, relationships, and our society as a whole. Many people don’t even realize that porn is having an effect on them until they quit. So if you’re curious about how porn might [...]

By Amanda Gardner Jan. 06, 2022 Many psychology experts consider commitment the key to satisfying, lasting relationships. Learn how to spot signs someone is afraid to commit—and what it takes to get past the roadblocks. Do you know someone with a fear of commitment? Commitment may be the most critical component of successful long-term relationships. After all, says Lawrence Josephs, PhD, a professor at the Derner School of Psychology at Adelphi University in Garden City, New York: The more committed you are, the more stable, successful relationship you’ll have. Commitment is a decision, Dr. Josephs says. It moves you and your partner beyond the initial [...]

1. Is the person your best friend or at least becoming so? It is easy to get excited about a new person. But if you cannot say that the person you are considering marrying has become or is becoming your best friend, you need to figure out why before you decide to marry. This is probably the single most overlooked question among couples, especially young ones. And for good reason. Many people cannot not answer this in the affirmative. But you have to answer it. Over time, friendship is the greatest bond between a couple. If the person you marry [...]

A new research article reaffirms previous research that the relationship between premarital sex and divorce is highly significant and robust. Compared to people with no premarital partners other than eventual spouses, those with six or more partners exhibit the highest divorce risk, followed by those with one to two partners. There is no evidence of gender differences. (Read whole research article at https://osf.io/preprints/socarxiv/ke5fj/)

Dear Fight the New Drug, Thank you for your efforts in freeing the world of sexual exploitation, destroyed relationships, and damaged minds. Today is my anniversary. Yes, my wedding anniversary, but also the anniversary of D Day, or Discovery Day. That is a term, among a multitude of others that I never wanted to learn. Two years ago today, I came home from transporting children to events. My husband was away at a holiday party for work. After tucking the kids in, I sat at the computer to pay bills. I noticed an odd legal pad on the desk. As [...]

By Emily DiNuzzo Updated: Jul. 15, 2021 Every editorial product is independently selected, though we may be compensated or receive an affiliate commission if you buy something through our links. Ratings and prices are accurate and items are in stock as of time of publication. Here's what it means to be in a situationship and what experts recommend you do about these often confusing relationships. What is a situationship? Situationships are confusing to define and open to interpretation. The catch-all definition of a situationship is an undefined romantic relationship, according to sex and relationship therapist Joe Kort. “It isn’t given [...]