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Cover -- Half Title -- Series -- Title -- Copyright -- Dedication -- Contents -- Foreword -- Preface -- 1 Introduction -- 2 What Makes Some Marriages Magical and Some Miserable? Raising the Questions -- 3 Terman's Question: What Makes for Marital Happiness? The View From Observational Methods -- 4 Longitudinal Change in Marital Happiness: Observing Physiology as Well as Marital Interaction -- 5 Marital Processes That Predict Dissolution -- 6 In What Sense Are Regulated Couples Regulated? -- 7 Is Conflict Avoidance Dysfunctional? -- 8 Conflict Avoidance and the Behavior of the Listener: Toward a Typology of Marriage -- 9 There Are Two Types of Conflict Engagers -- 10 A Balance Theory of Marriage -- 11 There Are Two Types of Nonregulated Couples -- 12 Male Withdrawal From Marital Conflict -- 13 Replication and Extension -- 14 Physiology During Marital Interaction -- 15 Toward a Comprehensive Theory of Marital Stability -- 16 Eight-Year Longitudinal Follow-Up Study -- 17 Recommendations for a Stable Marriage -- 18 Epilogue -- Appendix: The Observational Coding Systems -- References -- Author Index -- Subject Index.

Following a brief overview of the history of the study of relationships and marital problems, the author challenges the widespread conclusion from prior research that partners in a distressed marriage are simply more negative toward one another than partners in non-distressed relationships (as well as the implication that it is sufficient to encourage couples in conflictual relationships to be more positive to each other). The author summarizes a large amount of work from his laboratory (conducted in collaboration with Robert Levenson, and using observational methods as well as psychophysiological recording) that shows that the sequential patterns of affective interchange partners show in non-conflict contexts may regulate affect in conflict contexts. The data show that these stable affective interaction patterns predict marital happiness and stability or divorce. Based on these empirical research findings, the author suggests that only a proper "relationship science" can do justice to the complexity of the issues and generate plausible suggestions for policy implementations in the future.

AbstractWhat aspects of the relationships of young adult siblings are related to closeness or distance? This study takes a process approach to answering this question, contrasting it with the status approach of family structure variables. Close and distant sibling pairs were compared on physiological variables and specific aspects of warmth, con‐flict, and power during two conversations ‐ one on enjoyable topics and one on topics of disagreement. While there was no evidence that sibling closeness was related to family structure variables, differences in closeness were found in affective patterns and physiological responses during sibling interaction. Interaction between close sib‐lings was characterized not only by higher positive affect but also by fewer power struggles and lower heart rate reactivity. Close siblings also had higher scores on emotional empathy and cognitive aspects of empathy such as perspective‐taking than distant siblings. The developmental importance of considering power struggles in young adult sibling relationships was also discussed.

AbstractIn this study we examined how mothers' and fathers' parenting behavior during parent—child interaction related to children's ability to successfully interact with peers. Children's ability to engage in coordinated interaction, and their negativity and positivity towards peers were examined. Observational data were collected on 56 families in both parent—child and peer interaction settings. Results suggested that father's emotional volatility was related to children's tendency to play at a low level of engagement with their best friends (e.g. engage in parallel play or monologue). Both mother's and father's affective communication were related to children's tendency to play at a higher level of engagement, such as through establishing common ground activities, exchanging information, and self‐disclosing personal information or feelings. Parental intrusiveness, low engagement and use of derisive humor was also related to children's negativity during peer interaction. Results support the hypothesis that both fathers and mothers provide a context for children's development of the ability to engage in and maintain interpersonal interaction, and mothers' parenting may influence the amount of positive affect children express during dyadic play.