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Yahoo
17 hours ago
- General
- Yahoo
Research shows it's normal for relationship satisfaction to vary lots
You may find it reassuring to learn that often, people's satisfaction levels vary quite a lot within a relationship, even within a short space of time, a new study says. Satisfaction with your partner or relationship can fluctuate significantly within a few days or even within a single day, according to a psychological study carried out in Germany. This finding could help to better support couples, by showing them in therapy that fluctuating satisfaction is perfectly normal to a certain extent and does not necessarily jeopardise a relationship. Be clear about your own needs At the same time, experiencing fluctuations in satisfaction can show couples in romantic relationships that their needs are not being fully met - so could be a signal that improvement is needed. "To this end, partners should be clear about their needs and express them appropriately," says psychologist Louisa Scheling, lead author of the University of Mainz study published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The extent to which the partner is perceived as approachable or responsive has a significant influence on satisfaction. A certain "emotional instability in men" also has a significant effect, the study says. That may be because women are more accustomed to emotional fluctuations due to their hormonal cycles. In men, on the other hand, emotional instability tends to be attributed to relationship dynamics, the authors say. "Reliable perception and fulfilment of needs by the partner contributes significantly to stable relationship satisfaction in everyday life," says Scheling. Ultimately, it is similar to a parent-child relationship, she adds. "If needs are consistently met, then satisfaction remains stable at a high level." Variation greater between days than within one day The study found relationship satisfaction varied significantly between days and within each day. The variance between days was greater than within a single day. It also showed that the ups and downs in satisfaction among partners were relatively synchronised and that varying satisfaction was not related to demographic factors, meaning that it is a common experience for most couples, even those who have been in a relationship for a long time. Up until now, research has so far focused on how satisfaction with a relationship develops over months and years, the study says. However, since romantic relationships develop in everyday life, it is crucial to also examine satisfaction and fluctuations within short periods of time – given that in Western countries, one in three marriages end in divorce, meaning that many relationships break down. Scheling and her team of scientists, who collaborated with other research institutions, evaluated data from two previous studies involving couples consisting of one man and one woman. Data from a study conducted by the University of Basel between 2016 and 2018 included information from nearly 600 couples who recorded their satisfaction levels in several waves. Participants were couples from Switzerland, Austria and Germany over the age of 18 who had been together for at least one month. The other online study, conducted by the Universities of Mainz and Heidelberg between 2021 and 2023, included data from 150 couples who were asked about their satisfaction several times a day. In this study, the participants were couples who had only moved in together in the past four weeks.
Yahoo
21-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump's speech style: performing the exceptional everyman
A businessman and television personality long before he turned politician, US President Donald Trump has shattered the mould of how White House leaders typically act -- and talk. On stage he often appears to be shooting from the hip, with his meandering digressions, catchphrases, blunt insults and constant use of superlatives. But what stands out from a closer look at Trump's distinctive rhetoric style? As he reaches the first 100 days of his second term, here is a roundup of findings from an AFP analysis of 433 hours of Trump's public speaking. These are compared with millions of sentences of conversations and speeches from average Americans transcribed by the collaborative project American National Corpus. - Winners and losers - Competition-related rhetoric dominates, with the world frequently divided between "winners" and "losers", "us" and "them", those who are "very interesting" and those who are "pathetic". The data shows that competition-related words are 5.4 times more present than in the speech of regular Americans. Trump also uses superlative adjectives twice as much as average, and superlative adverbs 3.6 times more than average. Descriptions of others are rarely neutral in Trump speak. They are rather depicted as enemies or insulted as animals or pollutants, often through schoolyard-type nicknames like "Sleepy Joe" Biden or "Crazy Kamala" Harris. The demonizing simplifies issues -- or oversimplifies -- on purpose. "Mapping politics onto warlike competition results in a problematic reduction in complexity," wrote linguist Anthony Koth from the Rice University, in his contribution to the 2022 book "Linguistic Inquiries into Donald Trump's Language." Rules, referees, and opponents become "one and the same: the enemy or opposing force whose objective is to deny Trump". Linguist Ulrike Schneider from the University of Mainz pointed to Trump's recent rhetoric on global tariffs. Politics and the economy are a zero-sum game, "where one's perceived losses come about because of another's perceived illegitimate gain," he told AFP. - Trump as exceptional - Trump seeks to appeal to the common American while simultaneously emphasizing a vision of himself as an exceptional figure. "I think that's what (his) language does, he performs being ordinary and he performs being extraordinary: strong and clear in his vision," said Schneider. "You need to be perceived as the guy next door. But at the same time you also need to prove that you're this kind of messiah, this leader figure", said Schneider. Trump uses a superlative every 19 adjectives -- twice as often as the average American (every 41 adjectives). Among his favourites is "greatest." He insists he is there to beat records, his pledges and actions are "never seen", "never happened", "like never", preferably "in the history of our country". The data finds that Trump says "in the history of our country" on average every five minutes. - Businessman banter - Before the White House Trump was a property developer and TV star on "The Apprentice," where he played a successful tycoon. He continues to talk in the same style, with repetitive, short sentences -- two words shorter than the standard -- and relentlessly self-promoting. One of his most unusual traits is to refer to himself in the third person: Trump says the word "Trump" every six minutes. For example, take the president's performance at an Oval Office meeting this April where he signed a decree ending protections for a large swath of ocean. At the ceremony, he boasted that he had previously ended the protections during his first term, only for his successor, Biden, to return the area to a no-fishing zone. "I did it last time. And they undid it. That's why we have to stay president for a long time," Trump said, referring to himself as "we." eab-rap-vr/sms/dw
