[tertius]

You are in error sir.

Marriage Satisfaction = Fighting (or Total Conflict) - Unresolved Conflict

Conflict among other things brings you closer together. A couple who "fight" well will stay together.

[sin7]

I was a little off. I could not remember the actual heuristic.

marital happiness = rate of lovemaking - rate of arguments

Source: http://books.google.com/books?id=_0H8gwj4a1MC&pg=PA393&#...

[tertius]

I would define arguments differently than I would conflict (or resolved conflict) I guess.

So that might have some truth but I believe it blurs the truth by making the reader or observer (of research) believe that arguing/conflict is bad.

[neworbit]

citation needed

[mturmon]

One approximate reference is:

http://www.amazon.com/Why-Marriages-Succeed-Fail-Yours/dp/06...

Basically, the author did studies and interviews and found that some couples who fight frequently do still have a healthy marriage.

This goes against some common-sense notions, of course.

The important thing was that each thought the other one heard and understood their point of view. I can't recall if the feeling that progress was made to resolve the dispute mattered as well.