{"id":23667,"date":"2024-08-15T08:00:17","date_gmt":"2024-08-15T12:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=23667"},"modified":"2024-08-19T15:09:44","modified_gmt":"2024-08-19T19:09:44","slug":"do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html","title":{"rendered":"Do This to Improve Your Couple Relationship"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"\"<\/a>
Adobe Stock<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Mark decided he wanted to buy a new car. His wife Sharon told him she was uncomfortable with buying a car right now. Mark didn’t give much credence to her point of view. In fact, he \u00a0said, “You are wrong” and then became highly defensive. He told Sharon she was overly concerned about money. Sharon tried to explain snd gave examples of why the purchase was ill-timed, but Mark still refused to acknowledge her input.<\/p>\n

Is Mark being stubborn? Is his refusal to listen and acknowledge Sharon’s thinking harming their marriage?<\/em><\/p>\n

Should Sharon just chalk it up to Mark being Mark and accept his <\/em>stubbornness?<\/i><\/p>\n

The answers to these questions matter. There is an important power dynamic at play. Mark’s refusal to accept his wife’s influence will impact the relationship negatively.<\/p>\n

Marital researcher John Gottman and his colleagues found that men who accept their wives’ influence have happier marriages and are less likely to divorce. And the reverse is also true, wives who honor and respect their husbands and allow them to influence their decisions have better marriages.<\/p>\n

Accepting influence from a partner reflects the the power dynamic between a couple. When you listen and take to heart what your partner says, you are basically saying, “I respect you and value what you have to say.” And when you feel heard and valued in a relationship, the relationship is healthy.<\/p>\n

So men, if you refuse to accept the influence of your partner in decision making and power sharing, your marriage will probably experience problems. Accepting influence creates positive feelings that help to solve problems, but also boosts the marital friendship. Also, when conflict doesn’t escalate to a negative place, relationships do better. And part of that process is to deal with problems by listening to the other person’s input and accepting their influence.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mark decided he wanted to buy a new car. His wife Sharon told him she was uncomfortable with buying a car right now. Mark didn’t give much credence to her point of view. In fact, he \u00a0said, “You are wrong” and then became highly defensive. He told Sharon she was overly concerned about money. Sharon…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":23829,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[913],"tags":[8163,503,972,128,1032,937,125,8166,2697,8160],"class_list":["post-23667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-couple-relationships","tag-accepting-influence","tag-conflict","tag-couple-relationship","tag-couples","tag-influence","tag-marital-relationships","tag-marriage","tag-power-dynamics","tag-respect","tag-solving-problems"],"yoast_head":"\nDo This to Improve Your Couple Relationship<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"What happens when a husband won't listen to his wide's point of view? It's not good and a reflection of the power dynamic between a couple.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do This to Improve Your Couple Relationship\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"What happens when a husband won't listen to his wide's point of view? It's not good and a reflection of the power dynamic between a couple.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2024-08-15T12:00:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-08-19T19:09:44+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/couple-talking_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1200\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do This to Improve Your Couple Relationship","description":"What happens when a husband won't listen to his wide's point of view? It's not good and a reflection of the power dynamic between a couple.","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do This to Improve Your Couple Relationship","og_description":"What happens when a husband won't listen to his wide's point of view? It's not good and a reflection of the power dynamic between a couple.","og_url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html","og_site_name":"Doing Life Together","article_author":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","article_published_time":"2024-08-15T12:00:17+00:00","article_modified_time":"2024-08-19T19:09:44+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1200,"height":900,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/couple-talking_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Linda Mintle","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@drlindamintle","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html","name":"Do This to Improve Your Couple Relationship","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/couple-talking_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg","datePublished":"2024-08-15T12:00:17+00:00","dateModified":"2024-08-19T19:09:44+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142"},"description":"What happens when a husband won't listen to his wide's point of view? It's not good and a reflection of the power dynamic between a couple.","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/couple-talking_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2024\/08\/couple-talking_credit-Adobe-Stock.jpg","width":1200,"height":900,"caption":"Adobe Stock"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2024\/08\/do-this-to-improve-your-couple-relationship.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Do This to Improve Your Couple Relationship"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/","name":"Doing Life Together","description":"Relationship Doctor, Mental Health, Emotional Wellness, Relationship Advice & Entertainment","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/#\/schema\/person\/1e16a9c7332cfcc5b5d89e4ba3a36142","name":"Linda Mintle","description":"It is rare that a trained academic who speaks passionately to the heart of people providing real answers to real life problems is so relatable. Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=23667"}],"version-history":[{"count":11,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23667\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23832,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/23667\/revisions\/23832"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/23829"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=23667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=23667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=23667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}