Couples Fighting

All couples fight from time to time. But how well you end up making up could depend on one simple word---we.

This is a little hard for me to understand since I never get in any disagreements with my wife--I think she's watching this morning--but if I did I now know how to make it better---it's that word "we".

It turns out that what word you use when you refer to you and your partner can also give a hint as to how satisfied the two of you are with your marriage. Researchers out of the University of California at Berkeley analyzed conversations between spouse of over 150 couples. The found the ones using words like we, our and us tended to also behave more positively toward one another and showed less stress. Couples using words like "I" "me" and "you" to emphasize their separateness also ended up being less satisfied in their marriages, especially as they got older together.

According to these researchers, even though individuality is something that is ingrained in our society, giving up part of the "me" to become more of a "we" couple may be worth it. These couples just tended to do better overall.

So the next time listen to how you describe you and your spouse. Having the "we" words in there might go a long way to a long lasting relationship.