第 366 期·中文精讀

夏農·柯里:德普與希爾德庭審、婚姻、約會與愛情

Shannon Curry: Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Trial, Marriage, Dating & Love

心理學家回顧德普與希爾德庭審中的心理評估工作,並延伸談婚姻、約會與親密關係。

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中文精讀由 AI 基於原始訪談改寫,非官方翻譯,可能存在偏差或錯誤;表述以原音訊與官方文稿為準。說明

婚姻登記處應該掛一塊牌子:你馬上要籤一份為期五十年的合同,而簽名的時候,你正處在藥物影響之下。

臨床與法醫心理學家夏農·柯里(Shannon Curry)在 Lex Fridman 的播客裡就是這麼說的。她研究創傷、暴力和親密關係,2022 年 4 月因為在德普訴希爾德案中出庭作證被全世界認識,那次作證持續了幾個小時,全程電視直播。她評估的是安柏·希爾德的心理狀態,講的是複雜的精神病理學概念,講得清楚、剋制、有說服力。這次她坐下來聊的是另一件事:人類明明進化出了一套尋找配偶的機制,為什麼用它來經營一段要持續半個世紀的關係,結果會這麼糟。

戀愛前六個月,你處在化學物質的洪流裡

柯里說,剛墜入愛河的時候,人體內的多巴胺、內啡肽、催產素一起湧上來,那種狀態和海洛因的快感在神經機制上高度接近。對方做的每一件事都帶著魔力,你說不清他哪裡好,但就是什麼都好。

這種魔力有個更樸素的名字:新奇感。就像出門旅行,你完全在場,對另一個人的每個瞬間都保持高度敏感,一朵花、一句話、一個表情都值得停下來看。身體不可能長期維持這種狀態,一直開著這套化學系統會把人耗死。所以它遲早會把音量調低,這是生理設計,不是感情變質的證據。

麻煩在於,我們做的事情和二十萬年前沒什麼不同:找配偶、繁殖、在一起待夠長的時間、做很多次愛、生孩子。規則被改了。人類現在能活到一百歲,婚姻承諾要跨越五十年,而做這個決定的時候,我們依靠的是嗑藥狀態下的感受。

我不會僅僅因為一種感覺,就去籤一份五十年的合同。(夏農·柯里)

她提到一個讓很多人不舒服的事實:如果只看持久度和滿意度,包辦婚姻的統計結果常常高於自由戀愛結婚的人。這個結果邏輯上說得通。長輩在替你判斷的時候,看的是那些會隨著時間越來越被欣賞的特質:可靠、穩定、能扛事、遇到爛攤子不跑。而你自己在判斷的時候,看的是心跳。

她舉了個很具體的場景。人到七十歲,早上醒來轉頭看見伴侶,心裡想的是"天啊你太性感了",那當然可以,按性感結婚就是了。但你活得久一點就會知道,生活裡會出事。可能是一個有特殊需求的孩子,可能是父親得了痴呆,可能是自己查出癌症。那時候你想回家見到誰?誰會在你趴在地板上哭的時候抱著你說我們一起扛過去?誰會記得你孩子特教老師的名字、知道申請輔助方案要走哪道流程?還是說,這些事都得你一個人來。

五比一:決定關係存亡的是最不起眼的動作

柯里研究關係,最初的動機是想證明真愛存在。她寫東西、愛文學、愛藝術,但她同時是個科學家,需要資料。她實踐的是戈特曼方法(Gottman Method),由約翰·戈特曼和朱莉·戈特曼夫婦創立。這兩個人研究親密關係研究了五十年,觀察過數千對伴侶,把這套東西做成了目前循證基礎最紮實的伴侶治療方法之一。

結論是好訊息。熱情不必死,人可以在陪伴之外保留激情、親密和持續增長的欣賞。但需要一套技能。學校不教這套技能,我們改了遊戲規則,卻從來沒學過新規則。

戈特曼團隊量化出來的第一個數字是五比一。穩定的、幸福的、健康狀況更好的伴侶,正面互動與負面互動的比例大約維持在五比一。

"正面互動"需要澄清。它不包括買花、紀念日大餐、性生活,而是那些微小的、幾乎察覺不到的連線邀約(bids for connection)。你想給伴侶看點東西,希望他為你驕傲;你想叫他一起去買菜;你講了個笑話,希望妻子從電腦螢幕前抬起頭笑一下。她笑了,這是一次正面互動。她連頭都沒抬,這是一次負面互動。

負面互動不一定是我罵我丈夫是混蛋。它只是:我有沒有和他連上。(夏農·柯里)

每個人的邀約方式不一樣,這件事必須自己去問、去看。柯里丈夫的門檻低到令人發笑:她起身去倒水的時候,問一句"你要不要也來一杯",就這一個動作,他就覺得被愛著。她自己的邀約是另一套:陪我看完這一集,跟我一起睡,知道我生活裡那些人的名字。

訪談裡有一段插曲。柯里遲到了幾分鐘,發簡訊說"我給你減少了一點壓力"。主持人說這條簡訊讓他覺得很特別,因為那是一種暴露:我在乎準時,我在乎你怎麼看我,現在我把這個在乎攤開給你看了,這讓我變得脆弱。

柯里承認她發完就有點後悔,覺得"天啊我把自己暴露了"。但她接著說,做治療師這些年最大的改變,是她變得更擅長表達在乎、表達愛、表達真實的脆弱。因為這份工作要求你不斷見到人最沒有防備的樣子。

我們所有人都在同一條船上。我們都想被在乎,都想被喜歡。有些人會說自己不在乎,但每個人都在乎。(夏農·柯里)

有些爭吵不需要覆盤,只需要一碗對方愛吃的飯

衝突之後怎麼收場,比衝突本身更關鍵。戈特曼管這叫修復嘗試(repair attempt)。

柯里有一對年長的夫妻來訪者,相處得很好,有自己的系統。吵完架,她出門買菜轉一圈,他去木工房幹活,回來之後她說一句"今晚想吃飯嗎,我做了你愛吃的",或者他說"我把你愛看的節目錄下來了"。沒有人覆盤,沒有人分析誰對誰錯,但"我們還是一夥的"這個資訊準確傳達了過去。

大部分伴侶做不到這樣。大部分人對"被理解"的定義需要語言,需要坐下來把話說清楚。也有人做不到是因為神經發育差異,比如一對伴侶中有一方在自閉症譜系上,表達和加工情緒的方式天生不同。判斷標準只有一個:什麼樣的動作能讓這個人確信事情被修復了。沒有統一答案,只有對這個人有效的答案。

四匹馬把婚姻拖向懸崖

戈特曼團隊找出了四種行為,預測離婚的準確率高得驚人,他們叫它"末日四騎士"。

第一個是批評(criticism)。抱怨是正常的、必要的,"你怎麼又沒倒垃圾"是抱怨。"你就是個懶鬼"是批評。差別在於,批評裡沒有留下"你可能是對的"這個空間,說話的人把自己的視角當成唯一有效的視角,然後替對方下了一個關於人格的判決。

第二個是防禦(defensiveness)。找藉口、反咬一口、拒絕承擔任何責任、拒絕承認對方的感受有道理。沒人喜歡承認自己有錯,所以這個行為很自然,但它的效果是把問題變成了一場關於誰更有理的戰爭。

第三個是石牆(stonewalling)。人被淹沒(flooding)的時候會關掉自己。心率升到每分鐘一百次左右,前額葉下線,那是負責思考和邏輯的部分,掌管本能的原始腦接管,進入戰鬥或逃跑狀態。這時候人會轉身、抱臂、閉嘴、從對話裡消失,因為說話看起來毫無用處,說什麼都會更糟。戈特曼的研究發現男性石牆的比例更高。

柯里補了一句很有意思的話:她自己也是石牆型。被壓垮的時候,她的應對方式就是關掉。這個行為在統計上更常出現在異性戀男性身上,但它跟性別本身沒有必然聯絡,它是被淹沒之後的一種自救。知道這一點有用,因為它把"他根本不在乎"翻譯成了"他當時的生理狀態不支援他繼續對話"。

第四個是蔑視(contempt)。批評的加強版,戈特曼管它叫愛情的硫酸。翻白眼、起外號、模仿對方的語氣譏諷、從高處俯視伴侶,目的是把對方的腿打斷,讓對方覺得自己可笑、可悲、pathetic。這是預測分手最準的單一訊號。

柯里說,大部分人在關係裡都或多或少做過蔑視的事。從翻白眼開始,一旦允許自己"就一點點",那就是一條很滑的坡。

批評是一句沒說出口的"請你愛我"

異性戀伴侶裡有一套非常常見的死迴圈。

女性更常提出議題,所以更常被歸到批評那一欄。男性感到被批評,於是石牆。石牆讓提出議題的一方更焦慮,於是批評升級。雙方都在做自己認為合理的反應,整體卻在往懸崖方向走。

柯里把批評翻譯了一下:它是一句沒有說出口的"請你愛我",是讓對方證明他在乎的請求。男性接收到的版本完全不同:我做什麼都不對,我一開口只會更糟,那我乾脆不說。他缺的其實是一個具體的、能讓他做對的動作。

這個轉譯很有用。同一句話,說的人以為自己在表達需求,聽的人以為自己在接受審判。中間缺的那一層,是"我需要你做這一件具體的事",而不是"你能不能像個正常人一樣"。

反過來也成立。柯里說,你盯著一個人想"這是我見過最奇妙的生物",注意他身上那些細小的細節,就像在動物園裡觀察一隻開屏的孔雀,你會開始看見美的東西,那些煩人的東西會退到背景裡去。你越這麼看,越能看見值得看的部分。

結婚就是選擇接受一個人的這一套缺點,而不是另一套。(夏農·柯里)

人會對外部的新鮮感心動,這很正常,愛和吸引力都是情緒,情緒會來。但如果你記得那個新人同樣有一整套你結婚後要一起生活的毛病,你會更容易回頭看見自己伴侶身上那些真正的強度,看見兩個人怎麼長成了一棵共同的樹。

主持人提到一句話:戴著玫瑰色眼鏡的時候,所有紅旗看起來都像旗子。柯里說這句話不錯,但更值得說的是,玫瑰色眼鏡不是幻覺,它是一個選擇。你可以主動選擇去看。

女同伴侶教給異性戀夫妻的一課

柯里說有個發現讓她印象很深:女同伴侶和男同伴侶在衝突討論裡,對彼此更溫柔。

她帶異性戀伴侶做衝突練習的時候,自己像個裁判,有時候像個滑雪教練。只讓學員在小緩坡上轉兩個彎就喊停,重新搭個架子,因為怕他們衝下去摔得更慘。異性戀伴侶的對話需要她頻繁介入、不斷重新扶住。

她最近帶的一對女同伴侶,兩個人跳過了七個步驟,直接進入最高階的階段:開始商量下次怎麼做能讓對方好受一點。互相問"你當時是什麼感覺",沒有議程,沒有"你會這麼感覺是不是因為你……"這種暗含指控的追問,也沒有那種"我早說了吧"的優越感。就是謙遜和開放。

這個差異值得琢磨。它說明衝突處理的質量跟"誰更愛誰"關係不大,跟有沒有學會停下來、有沒有把對方當成一個獨立且有道理的人關係更大。

主持人問了一個很多人心裡都有的疑問:好萊塢電影看多了,會不會覺得那種戲劇性、那種張力、那種摔門而出的激烈,是終身浪漫的必要成分?

柯里說不需要,這是好訊息。因為親密感越強,美越容易被點燃。墜入愛河的過程本質上是對方對你構成一個謎,你一層層揭開,發現每一層都讓你喜歡。這些層是無窮的,只是人會偷懶,覺得"我們能聊的都聊過了,他還能給我什麼驚喜"。

把錄影帶倒回童年

戈特曼方法裡有幾百種干預手段,按當次會談的問題挑一個。柯里詳細講了處理具體事件的那一種,區別於那種反覆出現的永久性分歧。

永久性分歧的目標不是解決。解決不了,也不該解決。目標是理解:讓伴侶在你眼裡從一個對手,變成一個"他的想法說得通"的人。

具體事件的步驟

五步走下來是這樣。每個人先說出自己當時的情緒,憤怒、羞恥、被拋棄、絕望,一個個點出來,不要跳過去。然後講你的那部電影:如果伴侶的眼睛是一臺攝像機,那一段裡他看到了什麼,聽到了什麼,腦子裡冒出了什麼念頭,一幀一幀過一遍。

說法很講究。不能說“然後你進門就開始大喊大叫,跟瘋了一樣”。要說“然後我看到你走進來,我聽到你說了那句話,我心裡想的是,完了,今天全毀了”。前者是結論,後者是鏡頭。

講完,對方要把這部電影複述一遍,講完再換過來。

然後是驗證。各自從對方那部電影裡,挑出自己確實能理解的一塊,說出來。“基於你當時看到和聽到的,我完全能明白你為什麼會是那種感受。”不需要全盤認同,認同一塊就夠了。

柯里說,她最喜歡的是最後一步。從那天往回倒,一路倒到童年,落在某個具體的記憶上,落在那時候也出現過一模一樣的一組感受。

她說這是整個流程裡最美的部分。一個人在講,另一個人會爬上沙發抱住他。

她給過一個例子。那組感受是:被誤解、被冤枉、不被在乎,甚至覺得“你根本不喜歡我”。她問,你最早什麼時候有過這種感覺?答案是整個童年。母親總把沒做過的事栽到他頭上,設好局,父親下班回家一聽就信了母親,根本不給解釋的機會。

這種資訊一旦知道,就再也回不去了。下一次爭執,他還沒開口,你已經能看見那個在客廳裡被冤枉的孩子。

原來的迴圈是:一個人在心裡翻檢伴侶所有的毛病,越翻越絕望,覺得這段關係無藥可救。然後一道光照進來,你意識到,天啊,他當然會對這件事敏感。

問題的形狀就變了。它從“我怎麼證明你錯了”,變成“我以後怎麼做,才能讓你不再有這種感覺”。我不想讓我愛的人在我這裡覺得自己被誤解、覺得自己不值得被愛。

現代約會的問題在於把新奇當成了合不合適

柯里說,約會這件事,我們做得完全不對。但確實存在一套對的做法。

她推崇心理學家泰斗·希羅(Ty Tashiro)。她講了自己的經歷。那時候她處在一段糟糕的關係裡,兩個人一起去參加心理學會議,坐在報告廳裡聽希羅講他那份關於關係滿意度和擇偶的研究。那段關係裡,出門旅行從來都不愉快,一直在吵。她就坐在那兒,旁邊坐著那個人。

希羅在臺上說,大部分人是在戀愛帶來的內啡肽驅動下籤下婚姻這份協議的。而已婚人群裡,真正幸福的只有大約 35%。

這個數字夠低。但希羅沒有停在這裡。他想知道那 35% 的人有什麼共同點,也想知道另外那 65% 有什麼共同點。

他找到了幾個模式。幸福的伴侶在三個特質上給對方的評分更高。柯里說她特別喜歡講這個,因為如果你是個能照著說明辦事的人,找起來並不難。

第一是盡責性,這個優點會逐年升值

盡責性(conscientiousness)常被簡單理解成善良。但善良可以是個軟柿子,軟柿子不吸引人。盡責性更接近一種敏銳加在意:收到一條訊息,能讀出對方在裡面放了多少脆弱;能預判你需要什麼,然後真的動手做到。

柯里說她丈夫每天早上替她檢查鬧鐘,因為她時間管理爛得可怕。他要確認她設的是合理的提前量,而不是她自己以為夠了的那二十分鐘。檢查完,端一杯咖啡來把她叫醒。

這個細節值得停一下。它裡面有三件事:知道對方的弱點,預判後果,動手補上。這三件事合起來的資訊量,和“我愛你”完全不在一個量級。

盡責還意味著有動力。一個人整天癱在那兒是做不到盡責的,因為他沒有力氣去滿足那些他預判到的需求。盡責的人是那個下暴雨時把車繞到大樓門口、免得妻子頭髮被淋塌的人。

柯里說,跟一個盡責的伴侶在一起,你的愛會隨時間增加,因為你一直在感激,一直在欣賞。欣賞是一筆會增值的資產。

你會越來越感激,越來越欣賞這個人,然後你的愛會隨時間增長。(夏農·柯里)

第二是低神經質,日子裡得有一點平靜

第二個特質是大五人格里的神經質(neuroticism),要低。

這裡得澄清一下。低神經質不等於沒有情緒低落的時刻,也不等於不能有心理健康方面的困擾。柯里自己就說她整個人亂糟糟的,希羅的伴侶也不是一臺情緒穩定的機器。

區別在於,這個人有沒有在照管自己的狀態。情緒會有起伏,但不會把起伏全潑到伴侶身上,也不會潑到家裡其他人身上,包括孩子。長期跟一個未經處理的、持續的情緒不穩定一起生活,對伴侶的消耗極大,對孩子更甚。

柯里用的詞是混亂的閾值。一段長期關係能承受一定程度的混亂,超過這條線,它就開始侵蝕關係本身。

她解釋了這裡說的混亂是什麼。它跟文藝作品裡那種迷人的、有創造力的混亂無關,跟那種一刻不得安寧的混亂有關:什麼都是問題,去參加一個聚會像服勞役,你不知道對方會不會在現場崩掉,不知道回家路上要聽多少關於你朋友的抱怨,每一件小事都要花更大的力氣才能推過去。

所以要找的是韌性,是彈性,是隨和。有一點辣味挺好,太多就不行了。

第三是中等冒險性,太高反而是減分項

第三個發現最不合直覺。伴侶的冒險性處在中等水平時,關係滿意度最高。冒險性太高,滿意度反而往下掉。

原因是現成的:高冒險性本質上就是高新奇尋求(novelty seeking),眼睛永遠在找下一個閃亮的東西。

訪談的錄音到這裡斷了。但這個邏輯可以順著走完。長期關係有一個繞不過去的結構:它要求你在同一個人身上反覆發現新東西。一個把新鮮感當成必需品的人,會不停地把目光投向外面,因為外面永遠有更新鮮的。

中等冒險性的人不一樣。他願意試,願意出門,願意和你一起做沒做過的事,但他不需要靠換人來獲得刺激。他的新鮮感可以從共同的經歷裡長出來,可以從你身上長出來。

把三個特質擺在一起看,指向一個不太浪漫的結論:長期關係的質量,很大程度上取決於你在籤合同之前有沒有看清一些挺枯燥的東西。這個人靠不靠得住,情緒穩不穩,是不是永遠在追下一個更好玩的。

而這幾件事,恰好都在戀愛前六個月那場化學洪流的盲區裡。

所以柯里那個看似悲觀的判斷,其實是個很實際的提醒。感覺不足以作為五十年的地基,但它可以是個開頭。開頭之後,需要的是技能:知道對方在為什麼樣的邀約伸手,知道五比一這個比例的存在,知道翻白眼是關係裡最貴的動作,知道一場架吵完之後還有五步可以走,知道每年都要重新採訪對方一次。

這些東西學校不教,父母那輩也多半沒學過。所以很多人在關係裡做的,是用二十萬年前找配偶的本能,去維持一份現代社會的長期合同。合同簽得很認真,工具卻一直沒升級。

能帶走的東西

  • 睡前數一數今天的比例。正面互動幾次,負面互動幾次。不用精確,只要意識到這個比例存在,行為就會開始變。
  • 直接問對方:我做什麼的時候,你會覺得被在乎。答案可能小得讓你意外,一杯水、一句“我陪你”、記得他生活裡那些人的名字。
  • 把抱怨改寫成請求。想說“你怎麼從來不管孩子”的時候,換成“今晚你能不能哄他睡,我想歇一小時”。給出一個能讓他做對的具體動作,比指出他哪裡不對有用得多。
  • 盯住自己翻白眼的衝動。蔑視是預測分手最準的單一訊號,而它幾乎總是從一個白眼開始。
  • 衝突過去之後,找一次倒帶。問對方那種感受最早是什麼時候有的。這一問經常能解釋掉過去幾年反覆出現的同一場架。
  • 像做採訪一樣跟伴侶聊天。坐下來,認真問一些你以為自己知道答案的問題:你最喜歡的八十年代電影是哪部,為什麼。你會發現有不少答案你根本不知道。
  • 選人的時候看三樣:靠不靠得住,情緒穩不穩,是不是總在追下一個新鮮的東西。這三樣比心跳持續得久。

五十年的合同當然可以籤。只是籤之前最好清楚自己在籤什麼,簽完之後要做的功課,跟心跳關係不大。

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Lex Fridman Podcast #366 – Shannon Curry: Johnny Depp & Amber Heard Trial, Marriage, Dating & Love Machine transcription by Qwen3-ASR 0.6B (MLX, local, Apache-2.0). May contain recognition errors. The following is a conversation with Shannon Curry, a clinical and forensic psychologist who conducts research, therapy, and psychological evaluations pertaining to trauma, violence, and relationships. She received worldwide attention in April of last year by giving a lengthy televised testimony on her psychological evaluation of Amber Heard during the Johnny Depp Amber Heard trial. I found her testimony to be an eloquent description of complex psychological concepts and evaluations procedures. So I reached out for a chat. In person, she was brilliant, funny, thoughtful, and truly kind. I really, really enjoyed this conversation. Now a quick few second mention of each sponsor. Check them out in the description. It's the best way to support this podcast. We got Factor for nutritious and delicious pre made meals, BetterHelp for mental health, and House of Macadamias for delicious snacks. Choose wisely, my friends. Also, if you want to work with our team, we're always hiring. Go to lexfreeman dot com slash hiring. And now onto the full ad reads. As always, no ads in the middle. I try to make this interesting, but if you must skip them, friends, please still check out our sponsors. I enjoy their stuff. Maybe you will too. This show is brought to you by a new sponsor, a delicious sponsor called Factor. It's a ready to eat meal kit service that delivers nutritious and delicious meals straight to your door. That phrase is a ridiculous phrase, but that is what it does. So I use it mostly for my kind of diet, but it supports all kinds of diets. So I'm mostly keto, and they have a bunch of amazing keto meals that center somewhere around like 500 calories. First of all, they're delicious in the variety they provide for the keto stuff. They keep the carbs low. It's really really delicious, and the variety it provides makes it so that I don't have to think about anything and I can enjoy at an affordable price. Deliciousness in my life that's varied throughout the week and I still keep to a low carb count. This is probably the most efficient, the most delicious, the most affordable way to have variety of foods on a keto diet and all kinds of other sort of quote unquote smart diets that they have protein plus whatever vegan plus veggie all that kind of stuff. Get Factor and enjoy clean eating without the hassle. Go to factormeals dot com slash lex fifty and use code lex fifty to get 50 off your first box. That's factormeals dot com slash lex fifty and use code lex fifty. This episode is sponsored by BetterHelp spelled H E L P Help. Obviously, this is a good episode for BetterHelp to sponsor because Shannon is a great psychologist. I learned a lot from her testimony from our on and off the mic conversations from her interviews. She's so eloquent and clear in explaining some pretty complicated psychological concepts because there's a lot of gray area in how you identify the different disorders, the different things that might be right and wrong with our minds and exploring that area. All the gray areas within that with clarity that the terms aid in understanding versus limit you by putting you into a particular kind of bucket and exploring all that kind of stuff especially in the context of relationships. She's brilliant. She of course does all kinds of therapy and reviews both for PTSD for couples therapy all that kind of stuff and it just shows that lifelong taking seriously your mental health with partners your mental health alone is really important through the act of talking it out with licensed professionals and that's what BetterHelp provides and makes super easy. Check them out at betterhelp dot com slash lex and save on your first month. That's betterhelp dot com slash lex. This show is also brought to you by House of Macadamias, a company that ships delicious, high quality and healthy macadamia nuts and macadamia nut based snacks directly to your door. Small portions, healthy, delicious. I don't just eat them myself. I also share it with guests with friends when they come over. I think it serves as a good icebreaker. There's something about human beings that just love connecting over some food. That's what I've been using it for. But let's be honest actually, most of what I've been using it for sitting on the couch, feeling content, appreciating the seconds as they take by, and putting some macadamia nuts in my mouth. Yes, I said a friend's. It's the only nut rich in omega seven. So there's a bunch of reasons that it's healthy for you. There's all other kinds of positive stuff I could say about it besides it being delicious that it's healthy. But you should try for yourself. Go to house of macadamias dot com slash lex to get 20 off your order for every order not just the first. The listeners that's you will also get a four ounce bag of macadamias when you order three or more boxes as you should of any macadamia product. That's house of macadamias dot com slash lex. This is the lex Friedman podcast to support it. Please check out our sponsors in the description and now dear friends here Shannon Curry. Charles Bukowski said that love is a fog that burns away with the first daylight of reality. I love that quote. Do you think romantic love fades away in this way? Bukowski does it does it have to fade? The truth is that you have all of these chemicals pumping through your body. You're essentially high on heroin in the beginning of a romance, and you're going to have these rose colored glasses on everything your partner does is magical. But really, it's the novelty. It's just like going on a vacation. You're fully present. You're just attuned to the magic of another human being moment to moment, and then on top of that, you have you're just flooded with dopamine. So you're high on drugs and we can't go on like that. You will die if you are using these kinds of chemicals all the time all day long. So eventually our bodies are sort of made to dial it down. We've made it. I mean, we're evolutionary beings. We are doing the same thing we did 200,000 years ago to find a mate, procreate, spend enough time with each other that we have sex a whole bunch of times and make babies. Now we've changed the rules of the game. We're living you know almost tell we're 100 years old in some cases we're making these marriage commitments that last half a century and we're expecting it to be all because of love and we're signing these contracts based on how we feel when we're high on these drugs. So the reality is we know based on the and and I'm also talking about certain Western civilizations here because as you know there are arranged marriages and a lot of times those marriages if we're looking at longevity are actually way more satisfied than people who are marrying for love which logically makes sense if you're making a decision based on a feeling that is basically based on endorphins and dopamine and oxytocin. I wouldn't sign a contract just because of a feeling, necessarily. You know for 50 years, whereas an arranged marriage if you have your elders kind of deciding for you that this partner has a bunch of traits that you're going to appreciate more and more over time. I think there's some wisdom there. So you don't think that feeling could be a foundation for a 50 year relationship? Well, I don't think that specific feeling you're having based on drugs. Is going to be the same feeling you have 20, 30, 40 years down the line if you're going to wake up and turn to your partner when you're 70 and think, oh my god, I'm so glad you're hot, you are so hot. Then sure, marry for hotness. But if you've been through life a little bit and I think most people who are on a second marriage know, shit happens in life. It is hard you're going to have you know maybe a kid with special needs or your dad gets dementia or you get diagnosed with cancer. Who are you going to want to come home to? Who is going to hold you when you are sobbing on the floor and tell you we're going to get through it together? Who's going to know the names of your kid's special ed teacher and the process for getting a 504 plan or is it going to be you on your own? I think those things matter. But doesn't that hotness? Don't those drugs kind of solidify into a deeper appreciation of the other person into something you could call beauty. Yes, they can. But but isn't that the same isn't that the same thing when you know when you notice the beauty of another human being aren't you aren't you high on drugs still you're making it sound like there's like a brief rock star period of going on heroin and then it's over but like can't you be on heroin your whole life a little. I have some good news. I have some good news that was something I think one of the reasons I got into studying relationships was because I wanted that right so I'm a scientist but I also love art and I love writing and I love literature I wanted to know that true love could be real but as a scientist I am cynical I just need some data and when so I practice a type of therapy called the Gottman method and I love that because it tends to be well it is one of the most evidence based therapies we have based on John and Julie Gottman two psychologists who have been researching relationships for now about 50 years and this therapy happens to be for couples they found that you absolutely can make longevity work in a relationship you can build you are not just settling for companionship but you can have passion and intimacy and growing love and appreciation but there is a blueprint a set of skills that we were never given we're not taught it in school we change the rules of the game and we haven't learned the rules yet and the Gottman method for couples therapy kind of gives you a few guidelines the rules for longevity in a relationship yeah they did a beautiful job at taking these findings they had through you know decades of research quantifying it and then codifying it into a therapy method it's really skills based I tell couples when they're starting out with me that they're essentially going to be starting a class so what's the five to one golden rule what I read is this the kind of balance you can achieve of how many interactions you have in a relationship that are positive versus negative and I think that's what the five to one means but basically there should be kind of an empirical like if you just look back over over a month how many of the interactions were positive how many or the day look at the day right so the idea of this ratio well it's not an idea it was a finding it is a research finding that the Gottmans got after looking at thousands of couples and codifying these interactions that they were observing couples that tend to be satisfied in their relationships that are happier they have better health etc they are having approximately five positive interactions to each negative and I want to be clear about what I'm defining as positive and negative here so this doesn't necessarily mean that you're these don't need to be big sweeping romantic gestures buying flowers having sex these are things like paying attention to what we call your partner's bids we make these bids for affection for connection all the time in our relationships not just with our partners but with our friends our coworkers and we may not even know what our style of bid is but if you see them on a sheet you can pretty quickly identify them bids could be wanting to show your partner tell your partner something and have them be proud of you it could be wanting to go buy groceries with your partner doing things together hey you want to come with me it could be telling a joke and hoping that your wife looks up from her email on the computer and acknowledges it if she laughs then you got a positive but if I don't even look up that's a negative right so it's not necessarily that I'm calling my husband an asshole it's just am I connecting with him am I meeting those bids for connection and vice versa but do those also give you a guide of how you should behave well I think what's really important is actually asking your partner or paying attention to what your partner's bids are because what matters to tie my husband may not matter to you for instance I mean ties bar is so low with me I thank God in terms of what defines a positive interaction right like he just wants me to ask him if he wants a water when I get up to get myself one just be a basic decent considerate person is all he asks of me whereas mine might be sort of like stay up later with me watch a show go to bed at the same time as me or know about the people in my life that sort of a thing I should highlight this and I hope hopefully it's okay that you were running a little bit late and you sent me this text which is which people do really rarely and there's a subtle act of kindness within that text so the the text you sent was that I just decreased the amount of stress in your life or something like this by saying it's it's cool but that means that you were you're you're signaling that you were stressed because you care enough to be there on time and that was like that made me feel really special I was like oh you know people don't often people don't often don't always do that because that puts you also that makes you vulnerable and I actually thought that after I sent it but I feel that most of the day any interaction like ah god I just exposed myself but absolutely I was excited to be here and I didn't want you to think that I didn't care I think being a therapist has shown me that it really it's so lucky to be in that position because you meet people that you would have thought are cooler than you or smarter than you or just somehow impervious to life and you realize that we are all in it together we all want to be cared about and liked we all want to be liked as a baseline I some people will say they don't care but everybody does it's human and I have gotten much better being a therapist much more comfortable showing caring showing love and genuineness and vulnerability than I think I ever would have been otherwise and that kind of vulnerability is what's required to do a positive interaction in a relationship I think so and and people have different levels of comfort right so but as long as it's working for both partners and typically you have to communicate to figure out what your partner what makes your partner feel cared about however you might be working for instance with an older couple and I have a couple that's perfectly happy and they sort of have a system it works for them if there's some sort of a rupture if they get some sort of a disagreement they don't talk it out she might go to the store run an errand doing do a little shopping he'll work in the woodshop and then they'll come back and there is a repair attempt though but it's maybe she'll say hey do you want to have dinner come you know I made your favorite dinner and or he'll say hey I recorded your favorite show you want to watch it tonight so they don't need to process it but there is an understanding between them that we're still in this together we care about each other and there's a repair attempt most people need to be able to process it verbally and talk about what happened but not all so for most people if there's a conflict you should talk about and resolve it and repair it versus like just put it behind you I I don't want to say should I guess it depends on the couple everybody processes emotions differently everybody handles emotional expression differently I mean I have couples where I have one person in the partnership who has autism and the other doesn't and so they're obviously going to have different ways of communicating or processing what happened we all have different perspectives it really depends on what makes a person feel like it's been repaired what makes a person feel understood does that need to be verbal or in the case of that older couple I have where they know they understand one another because there's a gentleness toward one another after what are some common ways relationships fail that you've observed in all the therapy you've done well the Gottmans identified what they call the four horsemen of the apocalypse so what are the four horses I mean I could just keep it simple and go off their research so there those are four different behaviors that they identifying couples or that you can identifying couples that are really highly predictive of a divorce some more than others but I'll start with the lower ones so one thing that we by the way actually we all do these things these would be in that five to one ratio you'd want to stay away from some of these these are the ones so as they pile up now that ratio is going to get imbalanced and then you are headed for a split okay so the first is criticism so criticism is when we have a complaint complaints are normal but instead of owning our own problems our own feelings we assume that our perspective is the only valid accurate perspective and so we take it upon ourselves to tell our partner what is wrong with them okay so there there's essentially no real belief that they might have a valid perspective too so this could look like you never help me out and that with the house or even you're so lazy like can't I just get you for five seconds to help with the kids or something like that and then what happens is horseman number two defensiveness so not everybody is defensive just because they were criticized some people just are more prone to defensiveness than others none of us really like admitting our faults so it's pretty natural but defensiveness is essentially making excuses or worse turning it around on your partner um not accepting any responsibility and definitely not validating what they're feeling now if you get criticized enough or if you get really flooded the flooding is what happens when our heart rate goes up kind of around 100 beats per minute our frontal lobe shuts down that's our thoughtful brain our logical brain and our reptilian kind of hind brain takes over our thinking and we just go into fight or flight in a way we we just want to annihilate our partner instead instead of say anything that would be helpful to the relationship so if you're getting flooded you could do a couple things you could get super critical you could get contemptuous which I'll talk about in a second it's the last horseman or you do the third horseman which is stonewalling and in their research the Gottmans found that men are actually more likely to stonewall I also am someone who stonewalls but it's where you just sort of disconnect from the conversation you shut down you turn away you can physically even turn away kind of arms cross but you're just you're shut off and stonewalling happens usually because you get flooded you feel like you can't win you don't know what to do to make the situation better it feels pretty hopeless and Talking feels unproductive, so you can see how in a typical heterosexual relationship the gender dynamic. We know that women tend to use criticism more often because they're the ones that typically raise issues verbally, and then if men are feeling more criticized, that they tend to stonewall and it becomes this vicious cycle of then more criticism. But the criticism is really just a plea to be loved and get your partner to show you they care, and then the man tends to feel like he can't do anything right. This isn't even productive if I say anything I'm just going to make it worse, and they don't have any real you haven't given them a specific need a solution something they can do to shine for you so they turn away. And where is the contempt? All right, so contempt is criticism on steroids. This is what John Gottman calls sulfuric acid for love. Nothing will erode a relationship quicker than contempt. Contempt is when you are looking at your partner from a superior position. So you are eye rolling, you are name calling. There's a mockery mocking even physical mockery imitating them imitating their voice. Contempt is meant to just take the legs out from your partner, make them feel pathetic, ridiculous, and it can be abusive. But most people have engaged in contempt at some point in their relationship. Lower level would be sort of the eye rolling, but that is the biggest predictor of a split. If you allow yourself to think, yeah, that mockery or contempt just a little bit, it's like this weird slippery slope. Sure is, and the opposite is true. Where I just look at a person, think, wow, isn't that the most like wonderful creature I've ever seen in my life? Like just think that and you notice the little details about who they are. That's why just observe them the way you observe like a weird like peacock at a zoo or something like that. Intention is powerful, isn't it? Yeah, and it changes. You start to notice beautiful things and then let the things that annoy you. Yes, like just you're exactly right. You're touching on some really important things. So in relationships, we actually know that wearing rose-colored glasses is important. It's healthy. We need it, and it's a choice you're making right. So there is a saying that getting married is just choosing one person's faults over another, and the reality is that we may become infatuated with somebody else as human beings. Love is an emotion, attraction is an emotion, an emotion, and as you go through life, even if you're in a committed relationship, you might see beauty in another, and that person who is novel might seem attractive to you. But if you can remember that they too have a set of problems that you would be marrying, it really helps you to see the beauty in your partner again and recognize all of their incredible strengths and all the ways we meld with a person and become our own family. Almost become. I mean, our lives intertwine and we grow those oak trees. So by the way, there's a line I read somewhere that when you're wearing rose-colored glasses, all the red flags looks just like flags. I think it's a good it's a good line. So you think that humans are fundamentally all of us are fundamentally flawed or have flaws. They're unique flaws and that basically relationships is just the way to figure out how the two can fit together. Right and we're different so no matter what we're going to have differences. We are raised differently than our partner. We have different stories, different experiences that shaped our value systems, especially when it comes to the big ones like parenting, love, money, these principles that are based in our history. We're going to have differences. So is this a set of differences you can accept from somebody and work with? Do the benefits and do their strengths? Do they make it worth it or is it are they deal breaker differences? Tricky question, but in the in the couples you've worked with, is there like the feminine and the masculine? Is there different dynamics that come to play like dominant submissive? Is there is it like a dance where it just changes from minute to minute? Is there is there dynamics you observe that both limit and enable successful relationships. Yes, so there are if we're talking about masculine feminine, then how also are we could get into are we talking about actual gender identified gender or are we just talking about these traits because like I said I stonewall which is typically in couples something that is more associated with straight men. But that's my style of coping when I get overwhelmed. That is not tied to any sort of success or non success of a relationship, but what we do know is that gay couples so lesbians and gay men tend to be gentler with one another when they are having conflict discussions. I. So that's actually been identified in the research and it's something I've witnessed and it's just fascinating. So with my straight couples, I'll be going through one of these. If we're processing a conflict that occurred, I'll be going through the sheet and it's very very structured because you don't want couples doing more damage when they're there with you. You want them practicing skills that protect them from criticism that protect them from contempt. And when I'm working with a straight couple, I am like a referee or sometimes I'll relate it to being like a ski coach and keeping people on a bunny hill and you tell them you let them make like two turns and then you stop them and you meet up again because you don't want them to veer off. With straight couples, you are doing very short turns before you need to kind of intervene and rescaffold. I had a lesbian couple recently and they were so lovely with each other. They skipped like seven steps to the advanced final portion where they were already coming up with solutions and suggesting things that they might be able to do differently next time to make it better for their partner. They were asking each other questions about how their partner felt with no agenda, no attempt to sort of be like, well, do you think you're feeling that way because which straight couples do all the time. You just see this humility and openness. It's lovely. Yeah, it's lovely. But I wonder if maybe watching too many Hollywood films if some of the drama some of the tension is required for a passionate lifelong romance. No, it's not, and that's great news. So we actually know that the closer you feel to your partner. So if I mean you've talked a lot about beauty and you can ignite that beauty that interest right. So when you're falling in love, it's usually that a person is sort of a mystery to you and you're uncovering these layers that you find really appealing. There are continual layers that you can uncover with your partner over time. I don't think we realize that I think we get complacent and we think we've had every conversation imaginable. What what else are they going to do to surprise me? But we don't know the questions to be asking. One of my favorite questions, I like turning these conversations kind of into a quiz because I get bored easily. So rather than just asking an open-ended question, there's a way you can do this with your partner where it's sort of like the dating game like. What is my as of yet fondest but unrealized life dream and see if your partner knows you might not even know they might know you better than you know yourself that in and of itself is a beautiful reminder of the relationship and how special it is. But then also when they say it or when you realize or have to think critically like what is my husband's as of yet unrealized but fondest life dream and then you can talk about it. You just I don't know you just kind of transcend into this new area and you feel tight again you feel like you feel close. Well, you really talk to each other like I have I've recorded and without intending to publish podcasts like this with microphones with with friends with people close to me because it's literally that you get to ask questions like as if it's an interview. Right, and we don't do that exactly it the way you're talking with me. Yeah, sit down with your partner, have that conversation like years later. Right, show interest, actually be curious, see see what they surprise you with and actually what you learn is you don't know the answers to most these questions. One hundred percent exactly. Like like what what's your favorite movie from the 80s? You might not know the answer to that. It's like those first date questions or whatever. Or what's your favorite movie this year and why and why? Yeah, it's fascinating. It is. It's hard to do that because I think you'll probably be offended at first how little the other person knows. So I think you have to work through that. You know I actually find that there's this rekindling because partners are shocked that their partner does know so much about them, especially if they've been feeling dissatisfied or disconnected. It's a reminder of all the good that's still there. What I know we said some of those things but what's on the opposite side? What's the key to a successful relationship? What's like what are the things you see time and time again that to you designate that they're on a good path. Yeah, there's a real attunement honestly just it's sort of an us against the world feeling. Nobody neither partner is going to talk shit on them. The other there's a loyalty. They handle each other in the relationship with care. You can tell that they've worked some things. To me, it usually indicates that these are some people who have figured they've had to work some things out. They know that this is delicate. They know you know that you're on thin ice. You take a wrong step and you can be back in a tough place in your relationship or you treat it with care and it can be amazing. So they're careful with one another. They give each other compliments. They are considerate. So you'll see you know he'll bring the car around for her because it's raining or. She'll bring him home some takeout. You know she'll order for him too at the restaurant. There's just they keep each other in each other's minds. But that us against the world thing that definitely is there like one hundred percent you've seen that right yeah you've seen it and you've seen it like I like it when couples have been together for a long time and when one is talking the other one looks at them. If you don't do that, that's not a bad sign. But it's a good sign when you do that. Yes, because and I think it's actually a really good exercise to do because I because I enjoy when I see in others. So it's it's a it's a way to show that you don't take them for granted and then you still find them like this mysterious wonderful creature to observe like. I think too often we have that with our parents we have that with people close to us you think yeah I've heard what they're about to say I know I know you can complete that sentence take them for granted and then if you if you just look at them and say wow this is the most brilliant person. I've ever seen in my life. Most I can't you know just appreciate every word that comes out of them and look at them in that way you actually begin to believe it and you actually begin to see the beauty of what they're saying. You are exactly right. It's a self fulfilling prophecy. And they're really caring. Yeah, it's very caring. So that's I mean that's I think the beauty of what the Gottman research showed us taught us provided us is that we can do these things that become cyclic and just keep growing this relationship making it stronger more powerful more loving. You would never want to cut it down. What we you were talking about the sheet for conflict processing. What are we talking about? So like a couple will come and say like there was this conflict and you put on the table and then what does it mean to process it? So in that Gottman method of therapy there are all these different I mean hundreds of different interventions and based on what the issue is in that session you can decide the most appropriate intervention. And so this is a specific intervention for if it is a conflict that occurred and there are different types of conflicts so this would be more like an incident. It's not a perpetual recurring problem which has actually a different intervention where you kind of look at the underlying belief systems values and there's the goal is not to solve that problem. The goal in that situation is to actually just get a better understanding of each other and your positions and just. You stop seeing your partner as the adversary and you start seeing them as a person who makes sense. But if there's been a specific event a specific fight that's just sort of situational. But it's left bad blood. Things were said or you didn't feel understood. This intervention I was talking about is one that you would go through a series of steps where first you identify the emotions that you were feeling. Then you describe play by play your movie your perspective. If your partner were looking through your eyes, this is what they heard, saw, thought. Then they saw this, then they heard this. So you're not saying yeah then you came in we're yelling and acting crazy. You're saying so then I saw you come in. I heard you say and I thought to myself well great now everything's ruined right so you're showing them your movie then they have to summarize the movie for you and then vice versa. And then there's this step where each person validates some part that they can understand like based on what you saw heard I can actually understand how you felt one of those feelings that you said. Then my favorite part is you rewind sort of the movie. From that day back through into childhood and you land on a time a memory when you felt a similar set of feelings. And this is like the most beautiful part ever because let's say the feeling was I felt misunderstood I felt misjudged, uncared about, unloved like you didn't even like me. And I'll say when did you feel that way you know land on a time and they're like my whole childhood you know my parents my mom was always accusing me of doing things I wasn't doing and it would set me up and my dad would come home you'd hear about it you would just believe her. And then you have like a partner climbing up on the couch like give their partner a hug while they're sharing the story. It's beautiful and it changes the way you interact in future disagreements. So you have those moments. Yeah, you can't unlearn. Now you know this about your partner. You know what they're sensitive to. Yeah and again you kind of see the the beauty and the flaws then. Right, it all makes sense. Yeah, it all kind of makes sense. Yeah, so you maybe were in this dumpster dive in your head of how your partner sucks and all the things that are wrong with them and it's so hopeless. And then you get this light shining through and you realize oh my god of course they would be sensitive to that. And suddenly it's not about all the ways your partner is wrong and proving that they're wrong. It's just how can I in the future make sure they do not feel this again. I would never want this person I love to misunderstand me and feel so unloved. What are you? The early days of that. What do you think about the whole dating modern dating process? How do you find a partner that you can stay with for the rest of your life? So we are absolutely doing it wrong, and but there is a way you can do it and I am such a fan of this psychologist Taito Shiro. I adore him. He is brilliant. He's lovely. He's also very humble. Just a wonderful salt of the earth guy. I'm going to tell you a very true story here. Okay, go. I was in a bad relationship and I was at a psychology conference with my partner at the time. We were both at this conference and we were sitting in a lecture hall there for Taito Shiro to do his talk that day on his phenomenal research on relationship satisfaction and dating. And I'm sitting next to him and we had been you know it was just always unpleasant on trips there were always fights. We're sitting there and Taito Shiro starts talking about his research and how he found that most people are you know signing this agreement getting married and doing it based on the love endorphins and really only about 35 of anybody who's married is actually happy. And he said so then you know and a pretty low number exactly but here's what I love about Taito Shiro is he didn't stop there he wanted to know what those people who were happy had in common. And then same thing with the people who were unhappy. He found a couple fascinating patterns. So the couples who were happy tended to rate their partners higher in three different traits and I love talking about this because if you are somebody who can follow instructions, you can find this. I mean very easily. Those three traits tend to be conscientiousness. Okay, and I love the word conscientiousness because it's not just kindness. Kindness is a good way to think of it, but you can be kind and kind of be a pushover and that's not attractive. Conscientiousness is smart, attentive. It's somebody who reads into a text message and thinks wow she was making herself very vulnerable there. That's conscientiousness. I like how you just threw in a compliment. No, but it's true. It's a certain intelligence, awareness, and attunement. And then on top of that, conscientiousness is motivated. So you can't be on your ass all day and be conscientious because then you can't meet the needs that you anticipate about the person. So conscientious is that guy who drives the car around in the rain storms so his wife's hair doesn't get matted. It's my husband who checks my alarm for me every morning because he knows I'm terrible at time management and he makes sure that I said it a reasonable amount of time before my first meeting and not the 20 minutes I think I need. And then he'll come wake me up with a cup of coffee. That is ultimate conscientiousness, and it is true. I mean, I will tell you as somebody who's with a conscientious partner, your love increases over time as you continue to feel grateful and admiring of that person. The second one, you want somebody who is low in a big five personality trait called neuroticism. You want somebody emotionally stable in a way. Now this doesn't mean you can't have somebody who doesn't get the blues or struggle with mental health issues. Trust me, Taito is with somebody who you know I get I'm all over the place but. You want somebody who kind of owns their shit and isn't going to just be emotionally unstable all over. You know you want somebody who is generally happy and has some life satisfaction. Um. Having a partner who has serious, not mental health issues but unmitigated emotional distress and instability is really hard on the partner and it's really hard on other family members including children if you have children. So it's just a predictor of happiness. So there's a certain threshold of chaos that if you exceed it is going to be destructive to a long term relationship. A perfect description. But then chaos, not the mystery chaos you love as your with your full poet brain. I'm talking more like just somebody who there's just no peace, there's no peace, there's a problem with everything, everything becomes more difficult going to a party is a chore, you don't know if they're going to have a meltdown at the party or how many complaints about your friends or everything is a problem. So you want somebody who has just some resiliency, I think is a good term for it, some flexibility, some spice is okay but not too much, right flexibility, resiliency, easy going. Yeah, okay. The third is really interesting. I think so. He found that having a partner with sort of moderate adventurousness, not high adventurousness, actually leads to greater greater satisfaction and the reason for that is high adventurousness equals novelty seeking. Shiny new things

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