Jacqueline Whitmore, an internationally-recognized etiquette expert, author and founder of The Protocol School of Palm Beach, says healthy relationships hinge on a couple’s ability to know which issues are worth fighting over and which ones are worth letting go. She says knowing how to pick your battles is a skill worth mastering and offers… Continue reading How to Pick Your Battles
Tag: Relationships
Finding Your Perfect Spring Match
the kinds of people they are attracting, or how of their own habits or ways of thinking led to unsuccessful relationships in the past. Here, Kailen Rosenberg, who has worked as a relationship expert with Oprah Winfrey and hosted an award winning series Lovetown, USA, offers six tips to help you have a romantic season… Continue reading Finding Your Perfect Spring Match
Successful Dating Tips For Women Over 50
A certain percentage of women over 50 are no longer interested in marriage but do want to date. Jumping back into the dating pool is never easy but with a few tips anyone can be successful. These important dating tips will help mature women bring their best self to the table so they can “get out there”… Continue reading Successful Dating Tips For Women Over 50
Comfort Food Linked to Positive Social Connections
A big bowl of mashed potatoes. What about spaghetti and meatballs? Sushi? Regardless of what you identify as comfort food, it’s likely the attraction to that dish is based on having a good relationship with the person you remember first preparing it, according to the results of a study done by a University at Buffalo… Continue reading Comfort Food Linked to Positive Social Connections
The Do’s and Don’ts for Helping a Partner Who Engages in Self-Harm
Many people are in a relationship with a significant other who is grappling with some form of self-destructive behavior. This can manifest as an eating disorder, substance abuse, alcohol abuse, other kinds of addictive behaviors, or acts of self-mutilation such as cutting or burning the body. If you relate to this, you’ll understand that there… Continue reading The Do’s and Don’ts for Helping a Partner Who Engages in Self-Harm
5 Ways to Stop Seeking Approval from People Who Don’t Accept You
It is fascinating how often we crave the acceptance and approval of those who won’t accept us. It is an unhealthy pattern to continually pursue people who reject us. We do this because we see our lovability as directly related to their approval so we keep trying to be “better” or “do more.” We do… Continue reading 5 Ways to Stop Seeking Approval from People Who Don’t Accept You
Illness Makes Even Long-Married People Feel Lonely
Research done at Concordia University in Montreal and published in February 2015 in Health Psychology found that the onset of chronic illness often results in sufferers feeling lonelier — even those who have had a steady partner for 50 years or more. A release from the university reports that the researchers at the Personality, Aging,… Continue reading Illness Makes Even Long-Married People Feel Lonely
Male/Female Differences: Not as Big as You Think
Although conventional wisdom says men and women are very different – men are stoic, women are emotional, for example – a new study indicates that the two genders are much more alike than commonly believed. Zlatan Krizan, an associate professor of psychology at Iowa State University, and colleagues conducted a synthesis of more than 100… Continue reading Male/Female Differences: Not as Big as You Think
Men and Women Really Do Process Emotions Differently
Women rate emotional images as more emotionally stimulating than men do and are more likely to remember them. However, there are no gender-related differences in emotional appraisal as far as neutral images are concerned. These were the findings of a large-scale study by a research team at the University of Basel in Switzerland that focused… Continue reading Men and Women Really Do Process Emotions Differently
What’s Holding You Back?
by Terry Barnett-Martin If you knew that you would be successful if you took a chance and ventured out, would you do it? How about if you knew that you’d learn something important even if you it didn’t work out the way you’d planned? Would you try anyway? It takes a certain courage, which all… Continue reading What’s Holding You Back?
Want A Good Relationship? Don’t Turn Away
Of all the tactics used by couples when they’re in conflict, researchers now say, withdrawing “like a turtle into its shell” is the most damaging. And expecting your significant other to be a mind reader isn’t much help, either. Those attitudes are two of the most common kinds of “disengagement in relationships, and both can… Continue reading Want A Good Relationship? Don’t Turn Away
Women Who Wear High Heels Get More Help from Men
A study done at Université de Bretagne-Sud in France is the first to investigate the effect of a woman’s shoe heels on men’s behavior. The result? If it’s help a woman needs, maybe she should wear high heels. That’s the message from researcher Nicolas Guéguen after he observed how helpful men are towards women in… Continue reading Women Who Wear High Heels Get More Help from Men
The Silent Relationship Killer
If you have engaged in relationships of any kind, you have experienced and likely battled against “silent agreements.” While most people have never used or even heard of this term, silent agreements are present in our everyday lives where they lurk in the shadows of our relationships—at home, in social circles and in the workplace.… Continue reading The Silent Relationship Killer
Meaningful Relationships Help Us Thrive
Deep and meaningful relationships play a vital role in overall well-being. Past research has shown that individuals with supportive and rewarding relationships have better mental health, higher levels of subjective well-being and lower rates of morbidity and mortality. A paper published in August 2014 in Personality and Social Psychology Review provides an important perspective on thriving through relationships, emphasizes two types of support that relationships provide, and illuminates aspects where further study is necessary.
What is “thriving”?
Connection is the Key to Positive Personal Relationships
By Lynne D’Amico, PhD
You can improve communication without improving a relationship, but you can’t create connection without improving a relationship.
Communication has been hailed as a “holy grail” to interpersonal relationships, and is routinely promoted as the way to improve relationships between spouses, children, parents, and work colleagues. As years of research show, communication is definitely an important dimension of any relationship. But communication isn’t the key to fixing relationship problems. Connection is.
“Solomon’s Paradox” Causes Unwise Choices
If you’re faced with a troubling personal dilemma, such as a cheating spouse, you are more likely to think wisely about it if you consider it as an observer would, according to a study done at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, Canada and the University of Michigan. The findings, which will appear in an upcoming issue of Psychological Science, demonstrate that talking about yourself in the third person and using your name when reflecting on a relationship conflict helps you solve the issue wisely.
Toxic Relationships Raise Your Blood Pressure
Researchers at Carnegie Mellon University have shown what you have probably suspected all along: Unpleasant or demanding interpersonal encounters increase hypertension risk. That unfortunate result is particularly true for women 51 to 64 — but not men. The study was published in May 2014 in the American Psychological Association’s journal Health Psychology.