IMA Public Lecture : The Marriage Equation – Marital Therapy and Predicting Divorce, James D. Murray – Institute for Mathematics and its Applications (IMA) Public Lecture Series www.ima.umn.edu The Marriage Equation A Practical Theory for Predicting Divorce and a Scientifically-Based Marital Therapy 7:00 pm, November 18, 2004, Smith Hall 100 James D. Murray ( FRS, Acad. Sci. (Paris), Emeritus Professor of Mathematical Biology University of Oxford ) The rise in divorce rates in developed countries, including the US, is a widespread, important and poorly understood phenomenon. The benefits of happy marriages are clear. Laboratory methods have been developed to observe interactions of couples to identify patterns that are predictive of divorce or whether the couple will be unhappily married. Mathematician James Murray and psychologist John Gottman have developed a marital interaction theory based on key empirical findings from a large number of couples who have been tracked for the past 12 years. The mathematical model, of similar genre to those widely applied in the biomedical sciences, characterizes differences between different types of stable couples whose marriages are likely to last from two types of unstable couples. Changes over time in the parameters of the model can account for deterioration in a couple’s relationship, and how their relationship could cross a threshold after which recovery becomes difficult. They have been able to predict the longitudinal course of marital relationships using this modeling, with an accuracy of 94%. With a couple’s data they can …

Marriage Might Lengthen Life

Filed under: marital therapy

While Markie Blumer, an assistant professor with the marriage and family therapy program at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said the research is "solid," she cautioned against "putting all our eggs in the basket of marriage." "As a clinician, this …
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America is watching 'War of the Roses' 2013-style starring Obama and Boehner

Filed under: marital therapy

The most famous talked-about couple in Washington needs serious therapy. No, not Michelle and Barack – I'm talking about the President Obama and House Speaker John Boehner. Watching those two guide the country through difficult times is like …
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