I wonder how much depends on expectations in regard to what is fair and right.
Is it egalitarianism that' is a determinant or is it acceptance of one's role, no matter what it is?
That's something for the next study.

The coincidence of egalitarianism in task related roles and being better at how argumnts are conducted and resolved is not necessarily a cause-and-effect relationship, although it coulld be. There need to be studies with more controls than just hetero vs gay before solid conclusions can be drawn.

Meanwhile, the importance of how arguments are argued has been recognized for some time. Some marriage counselors have made a specially of it., and they could pick up pointers from same-sex couples.

I have never, for example, encountered a woman – straight or lesbian – who appreciated the humor of the Three Stooges! This seems to be an oddly gendered response, with males tending to enjoy the Stooges regardless of orientation. Of course, my sample size is admittedly limited.

Personally, I would be fascinated to read an academic study on the appeal of the Stooges! (Hmmm…I wonder how they would control for the variable of Shemp vs. Curly Howard?)

I rather doubt Berkeley would approve of a grant for such a study…but then maybe they would. Berkeley is . . . well, Berkeley. Nyuk, nyuk, nyuk, nyuk…

However, I would be inclined to be sceptical of these findings.

Altho I am a conservative, I am a supporter of gay marriage (having been a witness at one) and have many gay friends. Based on my own experience, there is very little difference in the issues and arguments of gay couples vs. straight couples. Indeed, I find there are extraordinary levels of similarities.

I suspect that this is a case of the well-known academic phenomenon of erroneous results in a “hot” area. Ironically, many meta-studies of academic publications have noted this, as academics more often than not tend to find the results they seek. Here is an interesting study of this phenomenon:
http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?requ...

The NYT interest in this issue is understandable, of course, as it fits their agenda. But consider this revealing line from the piece:

“When they got into these really negative interactions, gay and lesbian couples were able to do things like use humor and affection that enabled them to step back from the ledge and continue to talk about the problem instead of just exploding,” said Robert W. Levenson, a professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley.

So…gays and lesbians use “humor and affection” to help their relationships…which, as EVERYONE at Berkeley knows, are exclusively gay traits! In contrast, straight couples just explode.

Bias anyone?