Have you ever found yourself dating someone and suddenly you look up and it’s four years down the line and you’re miserable? Or maybe it’s not even misery, just meh. Well, now, thanks to a couple of researchers from the University of Rochester, you’ll be able to predict that feeling of romantic disillusionment long before you would’ve realized it on your own. Ronald D. Rogge and his colleagues invented a sort of word-association game that detects your subconscious feelings towards your partner. Those who associated more negative words with their supposed love thang proved more likely to break up within the year. Completely fabricated example:A) Your boo/pestilence and famineB) Your boo/squirmy puppies on a warm summer daySee? If you associate your alleged beloved with the yucky stuff, that means you’re going to ditch him. Warm puppies? That spells true love. I should so be a scientist. As for their research’s practical applications, the scientists write, “Such a measure could be useful to therapists in trying to uncover feelings clients are unwilling to divulge and to differentiate the nature of the problem in a relationship.” I’ve been writing relationship advice for over ten years, and I firmly believe that most people know when they’re in a bad relationship–but that doesn’t mean they’re going to do anything about it. There’s nothing a therapist (or an advice columnist) can say or do that will convince someone to ditch their bitch before they’re ready. Anyone who’s ever stuck it out with a jerk (hand raised over here) doesn’t need their subconscious examined–they’ve generally already ignored red flags a-plenty. Denial is a much stronger mechanism than common sense.