The Second Spouse Marital Error Detection Checklist
THE SECOND TIME AROUND Look for maturity, integrity, and a great friend, says psychologist David Schnarch--that is, if you want to keep your second marriage out of the cold statistics on divorce. Because when it comes to choosing spouse number two, almost all studies report the same findings: more second marriages end in divorce than first marriages. In other words, if you don't learn from your own marital history, you're doomed to repeat it, ad nauseam, until your friends get tired of hearing the same old song and pull you aside and tell you the truth: you make lousy spouse picks.
GET IT RIGHT THIS TIME If you've been looking at marriage through rose-tinted specs, it might help if you looked at a potential new husband or wife through a more scientific lens. Here's a ThirdAge digital divorce detector, designed to help you determine how important the really important things are--and how much you've learned since the last time around.
Instructions: Evaluate your prospective second spouse by answering these dozen questions on a scale from zero to ten, ten representing the most positive response. Then do the same thing again, but this time evaluating the qualities of your former spouse.
Our source for many of these key spousal indicators is Dr. David Schnarch, ThirdAge's couples counselor.
Men and Women meet, discuss, argue, and fall in love in Discussions.
