IS it possible to predict whether or not a couple will get divorced?
Psychologists say yes.
Twenty years ago psychologist John Gottman and a team of researchers set out to determine why couples split up.
They recorded 80 married couples talking about a recent disagreement they'd had, the Scientific American reports.
Next the researchers coded the 15 minute conversations to identify all the behaviours the couples displayed when talking, such as defensiveness, anger or humour.
Fast forward 14 years. The researchers kept tabs on which couples were still together and which had divorced. And they noticed that there were four behaviours in particular that could predict which couples would divorce down the line. With 93 per cent accuracy.