Blink

In one study we were watching newlyweds, and what often happened with the couples who ended up in divorce is that when one partner would ask for credit, the other spouse wouldn’t give it.  And with the happier couples, the spouse would hear it and say, ‘You’re right.’  That stood out…for a marriage to survive, the ratio of positive to negative emotion in a given encounter has to be at least five to one.

That is one early passage from Malcolm Gladwell’s new book Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking.  So far I find the book intriguing but once I have read it I will offer a less accurate evaluation.