There is a 5:1 ratio of positive to negative comments and gestures in stable marriages.

Marriages where the husband resists sharing power are four times more likely to end or to continue unhappily than when he doesn't.

The more possible it is to compromise with your partner, the more influence you will have over him or her.

Making Couples Happy, the companion to the ABC-TV series, uses science to help couples rediscover happiness in their relationships and get them on the path to enduring love.

Couples and singles will identify with the raw honesty of common hurts and resentments, disillusionment and despair that plague many relationships. Equally, they will share in the breakthroughs and ultimate triumphs, and learn the four simple steps that will help them better talk, support, connect and dream together.

Making Couples Happy readers who follow the easy steps and activities can expect a significant improvement in how they relate to their partners, and learn to communicate more effectively, argue less, be kinder and achieve new levels of trust and intimacy.


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John Aiken is a trained clinical psychologist and has worked on TV, radio and for lifestyle magazines. His two previous books are U-Turn: Putting You Back into Your Relationship and Accidentally Single. He is the resident psychologist on RSVP and appears regularly on Channel Seven's Sunrise.

Alison Leigh has been a journalist and broadcaster for over 30 years. She has written for a variety of women's magazines in Australia and New Zealand.