Almost half of marriages in the United States end in divorce. It is commonly believed that problems with communication and emotional expression contribute to the relationship instability precipitating divorce, whereas positive emotion and communication style are important factors in stable marriages. The degree to which people unconsciously mimic each other’s linguistic style in spoken or written conversation, or language style matching (LSM), is positively correlated with relationship stability. However, most research on LSM in romantic relationships has been conducted on present-day couples. I plan to fill in this gap in knowledge by examining the correspondence of couples at different points in history. I hypothesize that the written correspondence between couples who maintained stable relationships will evidence greater positive emotion and higher levels of LSM than will correspondence between couples whose relationships ended in divorce.

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