What is a "successful relationship?"

[hot_pastrami]

Originally posted by Whit
...I've asked a bunch of people that through their actions show that they feel that way, but they always either deny it (often even act insulted) or say they don't know.

The theory also explains this tendency. The person you are asking is sensitive to the perceptoin of others. You ask them this question, they perceive it as criticism, and defend themselves from what they wrongly view as an attack.