ABSTRACT
The love relationship of man and woman that builds itself into a marital union invites more of our interest and empathy than any other human relationship except, perhaps, that of parent and child. Marriage makes possible an interaction of two personalities at greater depth and intimacy than is possible in any other relationships except those in early childhood. Within the family, of which the marital relationship is the core, the past is recapitulated. The beliefs and customs evolved to explain and regulate the beneficent forces of nature that give security, warmth, and food, and the hostile elements that destroy or deny such goodness, are often applied also to regulate marital relationships. Marriage and the parent–child relationship, more than any other areas of living, focus attention on the over-riding importance of a permanent ongoing relationship as a prerequisite for the healthy unfolding of personality, in adulthood as well as in the dependent period of childhood.
