Let's Talk Relationships (Page 29)

Can sharing household chores with your partner strengthen your marriage? Researchers at the University of Missouri and Utah State suggest it might. The study found doing chores together can improve a couple's marriage, especially if Dad is spending time with the children. Looking at the household habits of 160 couples, researchers examined the ways partners strengthened or hurt their marriages through their...

A teen’s relationship with their parents has great impact on that teen's perspective of dating violence, according to a study. Researchers at Iowa State University found parental psychological violence makes a child “more likely to be in relationships where they’re being victimized or perpetrating violence against their partner.” Researchers also found family stress in adolescence may manifest itself later on in...

When you’re putting yourself out there on the dating market, it’s important to know your relationship goals. Do you want a long-term, committed relationship? Are you happy to have a quick fling? "If you scored high on the long-term strategies, you likely have a secure attachment style." No matter your goals, it’s important your relationship goals are in line with your sexual strategies. The biggest...

Men and women can both experience a midlife crisis, but men affected by a midlife crisis often have a greater negative impact on their relationships, studies show. According to author Daniel Levinson in his book "Season’s of a Man’s Life," a midlife crisis can occur when middle-age men begin to re-evaluate external expectations and internal desires. Levinson notes many men unquestioningly follow socially proscribed...

If you've done any dating at all as a lesbian, you've probably done the mini marriage. What's a mini marriage? It's when you wake up one day and realize you're living like you're married but you're not married. I'm talking about a relationship that started out with a date or two and some really hot sex right away. You went out on Friday night for the first time and you didn't go home until early Monday morning...

According to a study conducted by Purdue University, young people who leave their abusive relationships end up feeling significantly happier than they expected to feel. Researchers studied 171 people with an average age of 19, all of whom were in an abusive dating relationship. More than 80 percent of the participants were women. Participants reported at least one act of verbal, psychological or physical abuse....

Every person and every couple has to decide for themselves what love and commitment looks like for them. Maybe it's the traditional one-person-for-life, he's-her-lobster type of deal. Or maybe it's a different arrangement where partners trust each other to have their fun and flings on the side while still staying committed to their primary relationship. The experience of being in an open relationship isn't often...

You know that feeling of love at first sight? You see him. He sees you. And, in that moment, your whole world slows down. He smiles and you feel a jolt of lightning surge through your bones. You have never felt so alive in your life! People say that’s love and I agree. Now that same-sex marriage has been legalized in the U.S., many people are now seeing love and commitment is present in gay couples and we aren’t...

Marriage has been shown to lower mortality rates among heterosexuals, and it looks like men in same-sex marriages may share this same marital benefit. A study published in the International Journal of Epidemiology found men in same-sex marriages had a slightly lower mortality rate than unmarried or divorced homosexuals. Researchers suggest this decline correlates with advances in HIV/AIDS treatment. However,...

Bungee jumping? No problem. Sky diving? Piece of cake. Committing the rest of your adult life to being with and being loyal to one woman? Now that is scary! This is true for many men. We want that commitment (at least on some level), and yet we are terrified of that commitment. What can we do? Here are three tips that could “tip” the scale and help you overcome your fear of commitment. 1. Accept the truth that...

Reader Question: I have known this guy for about eight years. We started out with a conversation laying down the "rules." The basic rule was no strings attached. He was acting like he wanted more than no strings attached. He then asked if he could see me the next day and left but not before giving me two sweet kisses goodbye. He had never acted like this before. Well, the next day came and went. He didn't show...

Does being out affect your ability to get dates? It sure does. And it affects your ability to keep a date coming back. Being an out lesbian is not for everyone. There are lots of women who stay in the closet because of their family or their job or their church. You can still get fired in some states for being a lesbian woman. It's sad but true nonetheless. Coming out is a sacred process in my mind. For many women,...

Like many other people suffering from a long-term illness, type 1 diabetics find their condition often affects their relationships. According to a study from The State University of New York and Brigham Young University, type 1 diabetes not only negatively impacts patients who suffer from the illness, it also negatively impacts a patient’s partner, both of whom feel fear and uncertainty related to the...

You know why I prefer inviting women on dates instead of just hanging out? Or why I enjoy putting a little bit of thought into planning a fun date instead of hanging out and just doing whatever? It’s because I love living a life full of mind-blowing sex with great women who are really into me. Sounds crazy, right? Yet I’m always amazed at how quickly some guys sabotage their potential or ongoing...

How early students begin to date may determine their success in school. A new study coming out of the University of Georgia’s College of Public Health found students who date in middle school are four times as likely to drop out and report twice as much alcohol, tobacco and marijuana use. Researchers recruited 624 students and tracked their personal lives and academic progress from sixth to 12th grade. Students...

I use the term “open relationship” interchangeably with “ethical nonmonogamy,” and I use both terms as an umbrella for all relationship styles that are open, honest and consensual forms of nonmonogamy. Some people think of an “open relationship” as an emotionally monogamous/sexually promiscuous one, but this is just one type of open relationship. So under our umbrella of open relationship styles, we find labels...

Studies have shown well-educated couples are less likely to divorce or separate than less-educated couples, but a study coming out of Rutgers School of Social Work has discovered racial differences in these findings. The study, which was published in the journal Family Relations, found white women with higher education levels are less likely to divorce or separate than white women with less education, but the same...

Twenty-somethings aren’t the only ones flocking to online dating sites. Some research suggests senior citizens are quickly becoming the largest group looking for love online. Coming out of Bowling Green State University, the research discovered seniors were not only joining online dating sites at record rates, but seniors were also approaching online dating differently than younger people. "Seniors were joining...

Almost 1.5 million high school students suffer from dating violence every year, and Texas was the first state to mandate school policies on dating violence, according to a study. Yet Texas still has a long way to go in the fight against teen dating violence. The Crime Victims’ Institute at Sam Houston State University found one-third of the school districts in Texas don't make it clear enough to students that they...

Research found having children can negatively impact a couple's relationship, especially a couple’s sex life. The study found four out of 10 new mothers and fathers find their partner less attractive after having children, while more than 60% of couples stated they had more fights and less sex after childbirth. After having children, 28% of couples reported having sex once a month, 5 percent reported having sex...

Many online dating sites claim to offer a better shot at finding love than other forms of traditional dating, but one study is challenging these claims. The study ultimately questions whether the particular structures offered by online dating sites create more opportunities or more problems for potential daters. Researchers note several online dating sites offer matching algorithms to help pair compatible...

Reader Question: I have been casually seeing this guy for almost a year. We have great chemistry, get along well and always enjoy each other’s company. He is recently divorced after a marriage breakdown, so he is playing the field quite a lot. We are very sexual with one another but haven't been intimate yet. I feel like maybe that's the reason why he is sticking around. Lately I have been feeling like ending the...

Reader Question: I am 67 years old. I lost my wife last year and I am interested in finding another. However, there is a 38-year-old woman who wants to marry me. I think she is too young for me. She says age is just a number, but I don't believe that. What do you think? -James (Alabama) Dr. Wendy Walsh's Answer: Dear James, You would consider marrying a woman just because she wants to marry you? Wow....

Reader Question: I have been dating a woman for eight months. She is now pregnant with twins. She cheated on me after the first month we were together. I have been hearing "rumors" about her promiscuous relationships she had while she was with her former boyfriend. She tells me this is not true. I don't want to leave her because of my feelings for her and my unborn children, but I don't want to be another guy she...

Reader Question: There is this guy I knew when I was in middle and high school. We started talking again about two years ago (10 years had passed). I found out his wife committed suicide and left him alone with his children. We seemed to hit it off, but then there was a decline. I went back and forth to see him a few times, but I believe there was a strain as we live in different states. We stopped talking for...

Can you ever really forgive your partner’s past misdeeds? According to researchers, that depends on how much you trust your partner in the present. Conducted by Northwestern University and Redeemer University College in Ontario, the study found individuals with a lot of trust in their partner felt better about past transgressions as time passed, while individuals with little trust in their partner felt...

“Two hearts beat as one”— is it a cheesy metaphor or a scientifically valid observation? A study suggests there might be some truth to this lyric. Coming out of UC Davis, the study found romantic couples' hearts beat in sync. When individuals were matched with partners they weren’t romantically involved with, this syncing did not occur. "Researchers found couples synced up their heart rates and their breathing...

My partner J. and I met during our third week of college. I was 18 and he was 17. You don’t choose when you meet someone you are going to want to spend a long, long time with. Sometimes it just happens when you least expect it. We had an amazing college experience, but it definitely was not a stereotypical one. There weren’t any crazy parties or tons of hookups. We had sex a lot but with each other. At the end of...

Today’s married men are cooking significantly more than their fathers and grandfathers, according to new research. One recent report coming out of the University of Michigan found married Generation X men not only cook more than their fathers, they also participate in every aspect of the meal, including grocery shopping. After studying 3,000 young men over a 25-year period, researchers found modern men prepare an...

Reader Question: In my age group, I am meeting and dating about 50 percent widowed guys. Several of them have lied to me about how long ago their wife passed, and ultimately it evolves into nonstop talking about their deceased. I finally had to tell a man the constant talking about his wife had to stop. I never heard from him again. Do guys get into dating too soon after they lose their spouse? How soon is too...