Self Disclosure in a Happy Marriage

Happy Marriage In order for a marriage to be a happy marriage, communication is important. There is different ways a couple can communicate. A couple can make a happy marriage last for years by self-disclosure. I feel I can relate to this article on self-disclosure in relationships. My husband and I have always tried to communicate our thoughts and feelings with one another. It has been challenging at times, especially after having children. We mainly find our “10 minutes” around bed time. "Ten minutes is not that long, when you think about it…it just means paying attention to your partner and asking one question (and responding when) they ask one question (Schoenberg, 2011)". A recent example, after my husband and I were settled down for the day, we were watching the news. The news has plenty of topics for communication. The topic came up about winning the lottery. My husband and I had a really good conversation of what we would do with the money if we had won it. It was very pleasing to know that we were fairly on the same page. I do agree that self-disclosure is important and directly related to satisfaction in relationships. By being open and honest with each other on topics, it brings you a since of togetherness. It also opens up one’s soul. “The process of developing and deepening a relationship requires reciprocal and appropriate self-disclosure and the development of mutual trust (Sole, 2011)”. I believe there are gender differences; however, I think when it comes to affection and sense of belonging, both genders need it. With my husband and I, we both need to have the reassurance of our love. We both have requested each other to do little things such as telling each other how much the other one means to us, writing a little love note, or simply sending a simple text to say, “have a good day”. I do feel like I fit into the gender generalizations. I can compare myself in a lot of the results from studies. Even though some