Our site was founded on the premise that relationships are a central part of life and that our understanding of relationships benefits from research and scientific evidence. We also believe this information is most beneficial when presented in an engaging and entertaining fashion.
We take research findings from the fields of psychology, family studies, sociology, communication, evolutionary biology, and others, and put them in a format that you can use. We are actual experts who are active researchers and professors in the field of relationships science. We publish in peer-reviewed scientific journals and are frequently sought out by the media and popular press sources to share our expertise.
The writers on the site are relationship researchers. All of our writers base each article on peer-reviewed research and will cite our sources along with full references at the bottom of the article. If you are interested in reading the original source, you might want to check out the post on “How do I access journal articles?“
The articles are sorted into the following categories:
- Q&A’s – These are readers’ questions that we have answered based on the existing research on that topic. While this isn’t a relationship advice column per se, we will try to provide information that will be useful in your relationships, along with some science on the side and topped with a sprinkle of humor. See our disclaimer here.
- Research Spotlight – When an interesting research paper comes across our desks, we’ll summarize it for our readers. Or, if we’re feeling nostalgic and want to talk about an oldie-but-goodie, we might revisit a classic in the field. We promise to avoid statistics and fancy jargon, but we do hope you’ll learn something about the science of relationships with these mini-reviews.
- Hot Topics – These are brief reviews of a particular research area; the summary of findings from a handful of articles.
- Relationship Research in the Media – If an interesting news story is posted in a magazine, newspaper, or a blog, we’ll talk about it in this section.
- Relationships & Pop Culture – Want to talk about your favorite celebrities’ relationships? This section is intended to be a step or two above a gossip column, but should still be fun.
- Fact Checker – Have you run across some statistic or claim about relationships and you want to know if it’s true or not? Think of it as our own version of Mythbusters, but without stuff exploding.
- Quizzes & Polls – Everyone likes answering questions about their relationships, right? If we come across an interesting questionnaire or survey (what researchers would call a “scale” or “inventory”), we’ll post them here.
- Relationship IQ – Want to test your understanding about relationships? Here’s how it works: You give your answers to the questions below. Then, in a week we will give you the ‘scientific’ answer, along with a brief explanation. So take this opportunity to test what you’ve learned from life, this website, books, or from a relationships course in college. You think you know, but…
- Nuts & Bolts – Interested in how relationship scientists design and conduct their studies? These articles highlight the clever methods used in studies of relationships.
- Quickies – Everything you need to know in 75 or fewer words, plus a citation if you’re curious and want to learn more.
- Just for Fun – Need a laugh? Videos, cartoons, and other entertaining tidbits about relationships. These are typically posted on weekends.
All posts are tagged based on the topics related to each; you can access these, along with a search box, in the right hand navigation bar.
Check out our contributors here.
Disclaimer and legal stuff: The articles included in this website are not intended to provide medical or relationship advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Readers are discouraged from making major life decisions based solely on suggestions and information presented on this site. See our full disclaimer here.
