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Psychologist Says This One Skill Is the Key to a Healthy Relationship

Thankfully, it can be built over time—even if you struggle with it right now.

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If your relationship is based solely on your attraction to your partner, you might want to rethink the depth of your connection. Sure, attraction and chemistry are important, but there are far more crucial elements of a successful long-term relationship. According to Mark Travers, Ph.D., in his Psychology Today article, the one thing every healthy relationship needs is temperance. 

“The quality that does predict longevity has been hiding in plain sight for over two thousand years, under a name most people associate with philosophy rather than psychology: temperance,” he wrote. “Classical thinkers used it to describe the capacity to feel a powerful impulse and choose not to act on it.”

He notes that temperance is often classified as self-regulation, or the ability to control one’s impulses. Naturally, this is important in both our individual lives and relationships. Self-restraint is a valuable skill to develop, and your ability to........

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