Gottman cites ‘bids’ study: divorce couples turned towards 33%

What was said

"When Jenny looked at this over time, she found that the 17 couples who divorced after 6 years, when she looked back 6 years earlier, their average proportion of turning toward their partner's bids was 33%. When she looked at the people who were still married and looked back six years earlier, their average was 86% turning toward."

John Gottman recounts findings he attributes to his student Jenny Driver from a ‘love lab’ study of couples’ responses to everyday “bids” for attention. He says couples who later divorced had, years earlier, responded positively to bids about a third of the time, compared with 86% among couples who stayed married.