It’s Thanksgiving, and it’s time to take a test: Are you bringing home a turkey?

Experts agree that satisfied, long-term couples are able to navigate specific issues that confront any meaningful relationship. These include social life, values as a couple, money management, sex life, parenting style, stress management and gender role issues.

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However, these seven issues don’t all carry the same weight. TRUE’s research has discovered that relationship issues form a hierarchy. That is, navigating some issues serve as the building blocks for navigating other issues, and newly dating couples should be aware of these.

Take a moment to answer the following questions either alone or with your partner. Your responses will reveal much about the level of compatibility between you and the person you are thinking of taking home for the holidays, based on the hierarchy of relationship issues.

The further you two can get through the scenario without conflict, the more compatible you’re likely to be.

1. It’s Thanksgiving, and you’re bringing your sweetie home to meet the family for the first time. Everything is packed, but who carries the luggage to the car? Will you have a fight over this? And hey, who’s driving the car and why? Can you imagine any conflict over who’s the driver?
   
   
2. Now you’re on the road and well on your way to the parents’ house. You’re both discussing the upcoming day with the family. Does your significant other start complaining and begin a serious debate over the need or importance of even making a trip to be with family on major holidays?
   
   

3. Your Turkey Score

   OK, it’s not a rigid scientific assessment of your compatibility, but this fun exercise was based on TRUE’s research into the components that predict satisfaction in long-term relationships. Level 1 Only a very superficial (low) amount of compatibility. Maybe this person is a great date, but do not “gobble-gobble” this person up, because the prospect for a long-term relationship is very questionable. Level 2 or 3 Suggests medium-low compatibility. Your Thanksgiving Day date may not be a turkey, but you two will likely have much to discuss and negotiate when it comes to the deeper issues about daily life as a couple. Level 4 or 5 Suggests medium compatibility. This person is probably a great date. More like the type of person with whom you'd nicely fit and less like the type you'd throw cranberry sauce at during Thanksgiving dinner. Level 6 or 7 Suggests a high level of compatibility. This person would likely make a great date for Thanksgiving dinner, as well as be a strong candidate for a long-term relationship. Just be sure things do not get out of hand with that whipped cream!

   All the colors of the rainbow pass as you two bustle to the house. You’re almost there, and it dawns on you that it will be a very long day. The meal alone is probably a two-hour affair – and that’s minus the pumpkin pie. You two start to discuss what to do to unwind after the big day in order to give you both something to look forward to after you endure the natural stress of meeting the family. Will it be a problem if you two argue about what to do to unwind after dinner (watch football, nibble on leftovers in the kitchen, go to a movie, etc.)? Also, does winding down have to be a couple activity?
   
   
4. So, now you two arrive at the house and introductions are made. Of course, family get-togethers usually mean children will be somewhere at some point. You inform your sweetie of the children she or he will meet and then describe their temperaments. Tommy, one of the kids, is quite precocious and can really get out of control at times. One of Tommy’s favorite things to do to new people is pull their hair. He thinks he’s playing, but this does not always come across well to others. Your partner is not immune to Tommy’s antics. When Tommy begins his follicle crusade, can you and your partner agree on how best to react to and discipline Tommy?
   
   
5. The family conversation is interrupted by the announcement that dinner is ready. You sit down together and everyone gazes at you two – a seemingly happy couple. You two look at the spread on the table. Your significant other glimpses at the whipped cream on the pumpkin pie and then looks at you suggestively. You know what thoughts the whipped cream has drummed up in your partner’s mind. Do you share this mental – and perhaps physical – arousal?
   
   
6. Perhaps out of carelessness from the thoughts of whipped cream, your sweetie accidentally spills a drink on a relative. The pants may not be ruined, but the spill sure leaves an embarrassing stain. Your partner feels so bad that she or he immediately offers to buy the relative a nice, new pair of pants and matching shirt. Sensing the generous nature of this offer, your relative accepts. This remedy will cost you both at least $100. Do you take that figure in stride, or is it a major problem to you that your partner hadn’t been more discerning about spending that money or hadn’t consulted you first before offering the money?
   
   
7. Dinner and dessert come and go, and the family engages in more questions about how you two met, what your future plans are, and who actually carried the luggage to the car and drove it all the way here. You both knew there was not enough room at the house, so you wisely booked a hotel room. The evening starts to become somewhat of a drag. You two are bombarded with so many questions, and the relative with the stained pants keeps asking the family which store has the best fall fashion ensembles. You can feel your partner’s pain as s/he endures more of Tommy’s hair-pulling. You look at each other and you can read your sweetie’s mind: “Let’s get out of here … I’ve had enough! Besides, I’m still thinking of that whipped cream…” Do you agree that you both need to reduce the stress by making a polite exit? Or, do you think that your partner needs to be more accommodating and should be able to endure more of the family for the night?

Thanksgiving’s over, and you two prepare to head home. You remain a happy couple – despite the occasional and proverbial bumps in the road. Especially if you can remember who was responsible for picking up the keys and who was hauling the luggage.

Learn about your most compatible matches

Take any of the family of free tests that make up the TRUE Compatibility Test to learn more about yourself and the kind of person who will rock your world! Try the TRUE Interests test, the TRUE Personality test, the TRUE Communication test, the TRUE Sexploration test, the TRUE Romance test and the TRUE Commitment test!