Whether you’re already separated and contemplating getting a Virginia divorce, or your marriage is just “on the rocks,” you’re probably curious to understand why people get divorced in the first place. Dr. John Gottman of the Gottman Relationship Institute has conducted some intriguing research over the years that aims to answer the age old question: “how can you tell whether a couple will get divorced or stay together?”
Dr. Gottman claims that his methods can predict a couple’s divorce with an accuracy rate of 94%, based on a study he conducted in 1992. All told, he has done seven studies on couples, examining three groups: couples that got divorced, couples that stayed together happily, and couples that stayed together unhappily.
According to the Gottman Relationship Institute’s website: “six to seven studies have been predictive — each began with a hypothesis about factors leading to divorce… Dr. Gottman… followed the couples for pre-determined length of time. Finally, he drew conclusions about the accuracy of his predictions.”
He apparently looked at other theoretical models to compare their predictive results with his own. Based on the research — what Dr. Gottman and his team claim is significant and supported by work from the groups like Rand Congress Group at Iowa State University and Julia Babcock at the University of Houston — Gottman and his group developed a theory of marriage hygiene called the “Sound Relationship House Theory.”
We’ll discuss that theory in some detail in our next blog post. For now, if you need help understanding your rights, responsibilities and obligations regarding your separation, contact the experienced and highly qualified Northern Virginia divorce attorneys at DiPietro Law Group, PLLC today at (888) 530-4374.