In Gottman We Trust, All Others Divorce
If this were the Marvel Universe, John Gottman would be an X-Man. He's the marriage researcher who can, famously, watch a couple talk to each other for an hour and then predict with 95% accuracy whether or not their marriage is going to last.
Essay god Malcolm Gladwell used Gottman to illustrate the power of thin-slicing in Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking. (Haven't read it yet? Get on it or get fired.) Radio god Ira Glass featured Gottman in a 22-minute segment on This American Life. The Stranger "borrowed" Gottman's "love lab" name for their online flirt club.
Gottman, in short, is cool, even if he is appearing at an event sponsored by the defiantly uncool local parenting magazine ParentMap. (Become a parent and your whole world takes a turn for the uncool.)
Next Monday, March 20, Gottman will speak at Town Hall, discussing the concepts in his book The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work: A Practical Guide from the Country's Foremost Relationship Expert. (Gottman is not modest.)
ParentMap plugs the event this way: "The greatest gift parents can give their child is a loving marriage. Dr. Gottman has been studying marriage, couples and parent-child relationships for over three decades. Learn what couples can do to have a harmonious and long-lasting relationship."
Sounds boring, right? Bzzt. Remember: Gladwell, Glass, Stranger, Seattlest recommendation.
Seattlest has seen Gottman speak -- only on video, granted -- and he's well worth checking out. He tells great stories to illustrate his points, which are easy to understand and have lots of labwork and statistics backing them up.
Better still, he makes his principles feel easy and intuitive, even when they're something you never would've thought of. (We took one of the Gottman Institute's Bringing Baby Home classes at Swedish, which was the single best parenting-related thing we did. Thinking of parenting? Sign up pronto.)
Getting married? Go see Gottman. It'll be the best 20 bucks you'll spend. Or if you just want the advice without seeing the charming Jewish raconteur, buy his book.
John Gottman
The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work
7 p.m. Monday, March 20
Town Hall Seattle
Tickets: $20 in advance, $25 at the door
