Somehow in our culture, it has become popular for men and women to play games with each other- often the result of stereotypical thinking about the other sex. (women talk too much, men are insensitive oafs, etc) but out of these misperceptions arose many people with theories on how you "handle" others. personally, i hate games, i hate manipulation, and i would never want to live that way. some people thrive on it, however. some people just aren't even aware that they're actively participating in manipulative games. this isn't just in romantic relationships, but also in any social interaction that we engage in. it tends to be exhaustive behavior that doesnt really behoove any of the party's involved, so i don't really believe in it.

perhaps the problem is that people need to stop thinking that they can change other people just because they want to. YOU CAN'T CHANGE YOUR SPOUSE PEOPLE! they can change themselves if they choose to, and sometimes manipulation works for that, but mostly it seems that it just makes people powerless and controlled and they resent that and the person who they feel is trying to control them. so does anything change other than the situation getting worse? probably not.