Scientists have told what character trait contributes to the improvement of family relations

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The quality of the relationship depends on how well the partners have developed “awareness” – the ability to distract from external worries and problems and focus on what is happening now, in this situation: on the partner, his words and experiences, as well as his own feelings.

This conclusion was reached by specialists from Auburn University (USA) Julianne McGill and Francesca Adler-Stegon, who analyzed the results of a study of 281 couples in a long-term relationship.

The sample was specially selected so that most of the respondents ( 67%) was in a critical situation. 43% of them considered the possibility of divorce or separation. The key goal of the study is to establish how “awareness”, subjective perception of stress from life's troubles and positive behavior in relationships influence their quality.

To determine the degree of awareness of the participants, they needed to assess how correct the judgments are for them: “It seems that I work in an automatic mode, without realizing what I am doing”; “I have trouble staying focused on what's going on today” and “I can experience emotions, but only become aware of them after a while.”

To analyze positive relationship behaviors, the researchers asked participants how often they had in the past month said “I love you” and showed physical affection (for example, by touching). Participants rated their overall stress level and relationship quality on a scale of 1 to 7.

As a result, McGill and Adler found that mindfulness affects relationship quality even more than subjective perception of stress from life's troubles. The authors concluded that positive behavior and mindfulness are interrelated and can complement and reinforce each other, reducing stress and ultimately determining how happy couples are in their relationships.