Webster defines "to choose" as "to pick out by preference from what is available; to decide or prefer or think proper." To choose implies the exercise of judgement in settling upon something offered or available. "Choice" is defined as "the right, power or chance to choose."
How many of us actually exercise that right or power before we open our mouths and let some words fall out?
As a matter of fact, if you ask most people a question about why they said something in particular, they'l
Excerpted from
Raising America: Experts, Parents, and a Century of Advice About Children
This new authority figure, the child-rearing expert, did not present a single image of enlightened parenthood but, appropriately enough, two basic models—one sterner and more "masculine," the other empathetic and effusive, yet both impressively scientific. At the podium at the Congress of Mothers, Dr. Holt and Dr. Hall made an emblematic pair. Rough contemporaries, Hall at fifty-five and Holt at forty
Excerpted from
Confusing Love with Obsession
So why was Nancy so obsessed with Ron? Why, for example, did she become instantly attached to him so early in their relationship? Why did she manipulate her pregnancy and, for that matter, him? And why did she engage in acts of revenge against the women whom he was having affairs with? Is there an explanation for the abuse that she directed toward her children? How did her past influence her present?
Nearly all of Nancy's behaviors are com
By Margarita Nahapetyan
How is your relationship going during the quarantine? Does too much togetherness make you feel comfortable or is it driving you crazy?
Now that all of us have been in a longer-term quarantine for the past few months, you are probably seeing how this situation is affecting your relationship. The sadness, irritability, anxiety, and even anger at times, feel intensified because you and your partner have to stay ho
By Margarita Nahapetyan
One of the biggest causes of stress and unhappiness in life are failed relationships. Making a relationship work is one of the most important life skills a person can learn. If individuals cannot maintain lasting relationships, they, without any doubt, will always find it hard to be happy.
So what are the common reasons why once harmonious and happy relationships break down? There are several clear cut ways to
By Margarita Nahapetyan
It has been already known for some time that fewer and fewer individuals are willing to get married, and a new research just confirmed how much the marriage rate has dropped down in the last century.
According to a new Family Profile from the National Center for Family and Marriage Research (NCFMR) at Bowling Green University, the marriage rate in the United States is continuing its decades-long downward slide,
By Margarita Nahapetyan
It has been universally acknowledged that having a long distance relationship is not such a good idea, especially if there is no known end-date to the separation. Endless phone calls, expensive plane tickets, low satisfaction - the list of negatives can go on and on. You have to be really very brave and mature to start a serious long distance relationship, even in the age of FaceTime and Skype. Probably the idea of any type of relation
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Some people say that when we deeply love or care about someone we automatically open the door to betrayal. I am not sure whether such statement holds true or not, but one thing I know for sure - relationships are never easy and, no matter what we might picture and dream of in the happy early stages, relationships absolutely do not provide a promise of safety or an everlasting love.
Finding out about a partner'
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Being single around the holiday season can get many people extremely sad and depressed. Everywhere you go, you see other couples doing shopping together or making out in front of shop windows, and when you come home all alone, you understand that you have no one to share the holiday spirit with. That is when you start dwelling on past holidays when you were in a relationship with that one person who meant everything to you, but who is
By Margarita Nahapetyan
For the new generation of children social networking websites such as Facebook, Twitter and MySpace are among the most common activities and, in fact, a way of life. About 30 percent of kids aged between 8 and 12 years have managed to create accounts on such websites despite regulations according to which the users must be at least 13 years of age.
Any website that allows social interaction is considered a soci
By Margarita Nahapetyan
According to the researchers from the University of Washington's School of Social Work, the long-term consequences of childhood maltreatment, though proven to leave a victim with both visible and invisible scarring, can be combated with some protective factors, which, in turn can improve the health of victims during their adult years.
While some adult individuals choose to live their lives rooted in the past, v
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Checking and following the activities of an ex partner through social networking site Facebook can seriously interfere with a person's ability to move on as well as delay their emotional recovery and healing, suggests a new article, entitled "Facebook Surveillance of Former Romantic Partners: Associations with PostBreakup Recovery and Personal Growth."
Although Facebook can help lovebirds feel connected day and
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Most people get divorced hoping to have a better life and find more happiness than they had in their marriage. However, a new national study by Iowa State University cautions such people, stating that in approximately one in four couples who divorce, the individuals involved might have been better off if stayed married.
Alex Zhylyevskyy, assistant professor of economics at Iowa State University, who authored th
By Margarita Nahapetyan
It turns out that couples, who frequently watch television and are heavily invested in fictional romance, are jeopardizing the status of their own real-life romantic relationships.
To this conclusion came a new research by experts at Albion College in Michigan, who claim that the more are individuals addicted to the box and believe in TV portrayals of romantic stories, the less likely they are to be committed t
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Brides who hesitate about getting married might want to consider having second thoughts before starting a life-long commitment, suggest psychologists from the University of California, Los Angeles.
According to the new research, uncertainty and wedding cold feet are a real signal of trouble ahead and might be even a predictor for a future divorce. Justin Lavner, a doctoral candidate in psychology, who authored
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Adult men who had their parents divorced before they turned 18 are at a significantly higher risk of suffering a stroke when compared to men whose parents stayed married, claim scientists from the University of Toronto.
The new research found that boys whose parents divorced appear to be three times more likely to have a stroke later in life, but girls from divorced families are not at an increased risk of stro
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Contrary to the common belief that online dating is only for the young individuals, the new research by two Bowling Green State University professors of gerontology states that people over the age of 50 are the fastest growing demographic searching for love online. However, older generation may be looking for different qualities in their relationships than their younger peers.
Researchers Dr. Wendy K. Watson an
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Individuals who are separated or divorced are increasingly using technology when it comes to communicating with their ex-partners in regards with their kids, found a new study by a University of Missouri family studies expert.
According to Lawrence Ganong, a professor of human development and family studies at MU, who authored the research and examined the communication habits of about 50 couples, when ex-partn
By Margarita Nahapetyan
According to the findings of a recent study, married women may find themselves drinking a lot more alcohol than single or divorced women, while married men tend to moderate their intake of drink.
The research suggests that the reason marriage may drive a woman to drink, is not because she is unhappy in her relationship, but because she can be influenced by her husband's alcohol consumption. In their past studie
By Margarita Nahapetyan
How much are men willing to spend while dating highly depends on a number of women available around them, claims a new research by the University of Minnesota scientists.
According to the new findings, gender ratio, or the percentage of single men versus single women in a certain geographic area, has a significant impact on economic decisions such as how much money a man is willing to spend, borrow or save. In
By Margarita Nahapetyan
It turns out that, when under stress, men tend to be attracted to women with a more curvaceous body type, found a new research, according to which stress-inducing situations can actually affect the way males perceive body sizes of their potential partners.
Previous studies have found that the experience of psychological stress may have an impact on physical attractiveness ideals, but most evidence supporting th
By Margarita Nahapetyan
The next time you and your partner have a serious clash, do not rush to forget about it and forgive each other. While we have known for many years that the best way to solve relationship problems is to forgive and forget, it turns out that sometimes having 'angry but honest' conversations might be more beneficial for maintaining a healthy relationship in the long-term.
A new study of married couples carried out
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Flirting at workplace can indeed help women to get ahead and build their way to success. However, their colleagues will not like it at all, saying that such women are more manipulative and should be trusted less. To this conclusion came two new studies which were carried out by the scientists at the University of California, Berkeley.
Researchers say that some women's habit of using their feminine charms at wo
By Margarita Nahapetyan
After divorce it is women who turn out to be the biggest financial losers, but it takes their husbands much longer to recover emotionally, found the joint research led by the Australian Federal Government's Institute of Family Studies.
The study by the AIFS, ANU and University of Queensland compared the incomes of married couples with divorced men and women between 2001 and 2010. The data was collected from the
By Margarita Nahapetyan
Want to get a good marriage advice and stay happily wedded? Ask a divorced friend for help, suggests Terri Orbuch, PhD., a psychologist at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan and a professor of sociology at Oakland University.
Dr. Orbuch, who is also a family and marriage therapist and an author of five books on relationships, known as "The Love Doctor," conducted a long-term project