Abstract
For over 45 years, Gottman, Levenson, and their associates have been utilizing observational methods and longitudinal studies to determine the factors that make up successful romantic relationships between two partners (REFS). While the early efforts of this endeavor relied on time series and other standard methods of statistical analyses, it was the application of dynamical systems mathematical modeling that transformed the work into a powerfully predictive model of relationship success or failure, which spurred the creation of a new method of couples counseling that had an empirical base at its core. In this chapter, we wish to present an overview of Gottman’s original dynamical systems modeling work, address some of the criticisms of those models, and discuss several new areas of mathematical modeling that are being employed to uncover additional dynamical elements of relationships.
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Gottman, J.M., Peluso, P.R. (2018). Dynamic Models of Social Interaction. In: Strawinska-Zanko, U., Liebovitch, L. (eds) Mathematical Modeling of Social Relationships. Computational Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76765-9_2
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