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Heen: The Optimal Positive-to-Negative Interaction Ratio in Relationships Is 5:1

Sheila Heen · #57 Sheila Heen: Decoding Difficult Conversations · May 15, 2019 · at 1:22:55

Harvard Law School negotiation lecturer Sheila Heen discusses John Gottman's research on micro-interactions and marital longevity.

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“The optimum is, what is it, five to one? Five to one, positive interactions to negative interactions, and it's not better to have a bigger ratio of positive and negative, like 10 to one is not better because of what you're describing. If it's 10 positive interactions or 50 positive interactions before any negative one, typically one of the partners is holding back.”

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