a mathematical model of sentimental dynamics accounting for marital dissolution建立情感动力学数学模型,占婚姻解体.pdfVIP

A Mathematical Model of Sentimental Dynamics Accounting for Marital Dissolution ´ Jose-Manuel Rey* ´ ´ Departamento de Analisis Economico, Universidad Complutense, Madrid, Spain Abstract Background: Marital dissolution is ubiquitous in western societies. It poses major scientific and sociological problems both in theoretical and therapeutic terms. Scholars and therapists agree on the existence of a sort of second law of thermodynamics for sentimental relationships. Effort is required to sustain them. Love is not enough. Methodology/Principal Findings: Building on a simple version of the second law we use optimal control theory as a novel approach to model sentimental dynamics. Our analysis is consistent with sociological data. We show that, when both partners have similar emotional attributes, there is an optimal effort policy yielding a durable happy union. This policy is prey to structural destabilization resulting from a combination of two factors: there is an effort gap because the optimal policy always entails discomfort and there is a tendency to lower effort to non-sustaining levels due to the instability of the dynamics. Conclusions/Significance: These mathematical facts implied by the model unveil an underlying mechanism that may explain couple disruption in real scenarios. Within this framework the apparent paradox that a union consistently planned to last forever will probably break up is explained as a mechanistic consequence of the second law. Citation: Rey J-M (2010) A Mathematical Model of Sentimental Dynamics Accounting for Marital Dissolution. PLoS ONE 5(3): e9881. doi:10.1371/ journal.pone.0009881 Editor: Jeremy Miles, RAND Corporation, United States of America Received September 17, 2009; Accepted February 14,