Blink is a famous book by Malcolm Gladwell and it sure isn't about relationships. But it does present a very interesting idea about relationships. More about the concept of "contemp" than about relationships.
Gottman has found, in fact, that the presence of contempt in a marriage can even predict such things as how many colds a husband or wife gets; in other words, having someone you love express contempt toward you is so stressful that it begins to affect the functioning of your immune system. " Contempt is closely related to disgust, and what disgust and contempt are about is completely rejecting and excluding someone from the community. The big gender difference with negative emotions is that women are more critical, and men are more likely to stonewall. We find that women start talking about a problem, the men get irritated and turn away, and the women get more critical and it becomes a circle. But there isn't any gender difference when it comes to contempt. Not at all" Contempt is special. If you can measure contempt, then all of a sudden you dont need to know every detail of the couple's relationship.
I agree.
