ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the interpersonal communication processes that promote and maintain successful marital and committed relationships. Reviewing research on relationship maintenance, we examine processes that partners use to enhance their relationship as well as processes used to mitigate threats to the relationship. With regard to relationship enhancement, we explore how couples foster intimacy by self-disclosing, expressing affection, and responding to emotional bids. We also explore how couples express support and share tasks, think positively about their relationship, and create shared meaning. With regard to mitigating relationship threats, we examine how couples appear to deal with conflict more successfully through careful and gentle conflict initiation, regulation and repair of negative emotion, constructive problem solving, and an attitude of respect toward perpetual problems. We also examine mitigation of relationship threats through positive cognitive biases and attributions including sacrifice, forgiveness, and self-compassion. Finally, this chapter shows that there is more than one way to make a relationship work, as evidenced by couple typologies put forth by Gottman and Fitzpatrick and research on same-sex couples and long-term married couples. Although not all couples are the same, we highlight a general culture of positivity that appears to be common in successful relationships.
