Week 5

  1. Think of a couple you know well. If married, you could think of your own marriage.
    • Would you say the marriage of this couple is characterized by positive or negative sentiment override?
    • Unfortunately, I think my marriage is more negative then positive. We are working to be better about it though, 
      • What are the indicators that lead you to draw this conclusion?
We are constantly misinterpreting each other, and when one of us tries to make a repair, the other does not realize it, just taking it personally. 
  1. The central finding of Gottman's research is that strong marriages have strong friendship as a defining characteristic. In fact, Gottman's whole book has to do with building friendship and dealing with conflict in healthy ways so that it does not negatively affect friendship.
    • What does Gottman mean by friendship, and why is friendship so important in marriage?
It means liking the person. Really wanting to be with them,  and finding joy in companionship. Being together is a desire, not a chore.
  1. The introduction in Goddard's book sets the stage for understanding the rest of the book. What is the central idea in the introduction?
He has a lot of experience. He wanted to revise because he feels he can help others with his experiences, and the information received over the time that the book was first published validated his theories. 

Currently we are in marriage counseling. We are learning to communicate better. It is helping us on our way to becoming better friends. We got married pretty young(I was 17, he was 20) and we are growing up and learning alongside each other. 

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