What Predicts Divorce?: The Relationship Between Marital Processes and Marital Outcomes

Gottman presents a thorough look at the methodology used in his studies of marital interation and divorce prediction. I believe this text is a must for the bookshelves of professional researchers. Laypersons might enjoy his trade books written with Nan Silver.

Gottman's 1994 book comes on the heels of groundbreaking work in behavioral observation methodologies. Trained as a mathematician, Gottman spares us no quantified details. However, quantification and reliable measurement are the indispensible components of good scientific research of which Gottman's work is a nearly overwhelmingly thorough example. Gottman takes us back stage to the development and the testing of hypotheses about what makes marriages tick and what makes them wind down in very convincing fashion. I lecture from this text in my university course and student attention is usually very high and they ask many questions. The fact that Gottman can predict marital dissolution, in some instances, at better than 90%, is itself a testament to his rigourous and insightful work. Isn't that one of the main points of science: to predict?