This guest article from YourTango was written by Leslie Petruck.

Maintaining a marriage requires intentionality. Just like other relationships, if your marriage doesn’t receive the necessary time and attention, it will deteriorate.

Couples tend to enter marriages with great expectations, bringing both their own histories of hurt and unmet needs. The unspoken expectation that your partner will finally love you the way you desire to be loved is often a setup for failure.

Apathy and contempt in a marriage are warning signs that your marriage needs your attention, and the number one predictor of divorce is conflict avoidance. So, if you and your partner avoid conflict and lack the skills of conflict resolution, your marriage may be in jeopardy.

Dr. John Gottman, marriage and family therapist and leading researcher on marriage, has conducted studies over the span of 40 years to determine the predictors of divorce.

His studies showed that these 6 characteristics of communication predict the likelihood of divorce with 91% accuracy.

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