People seem to be finding less satisfaction in marriage than they did in the past. For example, the percentage of married people who reported being Avery happy in their marriages fell from 53 in 1976 to 37 in 1996. Love between marital partners must equate with the expression of affection, most likely including physical affection, mutual respect for each other's boundaries, harmonious companionship, kindness and honesty. Most people profess love, but do not act accordingly. Quite often their behavior toward one another violates essential human rights issues.
Partners often manipulate each other in ways that violate their human rights.
Yet dishonesty tampers with a person's sense of reality, causes confusion and anxiety, and can actually lead to symptoms of mental disturbance. This is a significant ethical issue because of the damage deception causes in personal relationships. The tyranny of the weak operates in many relationships. Falling apart emotionally, or in an extreme example, a person may even threaten suicide as a form of manipulation or coercion. They fail primarily because psychological defenses formed in childhood under conditions of stress act as barriers to achieving intimacy in adult romantic relationships.