Science of Love

It's not hard to find advice on love and relationships. Television and magazines are full self-proclaimed experts who claim to know the ins and outs of successful, sustained romance. But how many of them have used scientific methods to study what leads to success or failure in a romantic partnership ? Do the methods of science even apply to something as complicated as love?
Sure they do - in fact, they have been applied with considerable success by psychologist John Gottman. At his University of Washington laboratory - informally known as the "Love Lab" - Gottman and his colleagues have used modern technology such as video cameras, heart rate and blood pressure monitors, and motion sensors to carefully assess what happens when couples talk about their sources of conflict. One of their findings is that there will always be some conflict in a healthy relationship; an absence of confl...
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