Study Shows Five-Second Breaks From Arguments Can Help Diffuse Disagreements Between Couples
Couples who are arguing should take a short five-second break to stop them from taking the argument too far, according to a new study performed by psychologists at the University of St Andrews.
The study, which was published in the journal Communications Psychology, involved experiments with 81 couples. The results showed that when couples take a pause during an argument, it can prevent the fight from escalating and potentially defuse the situation overall.
According to Annah McCurry, a PhD candidate at the university’s school of psychology and neuroscience, even a short five second break can be just as effective as longer breaks.
“It sounds obvious but this is the first time anyone has experimentally demonstrated a reduction in aggression following enforced breaks. Forcing couples to have a five-second break was just as effective as a 10- or 15-second break, which shows even the briefest of pauses can help defuse an argument,” said McCurry who led the experiments alongside supervisors Dr. Robert May and Professor David Donaldson, according to The Guardian.
“This is a simple, free and effective hack to reduce negative emotions during arguments. It’s cheaper than couples therapy and can be easily integrated into everyday interactions.”
Caroline Davies, a writer for the Guardian, described part of the experiment in which researchers engineered conflict by “engaging couples in a competitive game where they could blast an unpleasant noise at their partner at a volume of their choosing. The couples participated in 30 rounds of the game, with breaks enforced at different intervals,” Davies wrote.
She then explained that they used advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning in order to analyze the specific emotional responses, which were also captured utilizing a 360-degree camera.
The researchers found that in general, couples tended to match each other’s level of emotional response, especially at high levels. Enforcing a short break in the arguments worked to disrupt “patterns of retaliation,” which led to the arguments being overall less aggressive.
The strategy of utilizing these breaks doesn’t always work, however. The researchers made it clear that this method is used to manage lower-level conflicts so that they don’t “escalate” into a more serious fight “caused by negative emotional arousal and poor emotion regulation ability,” Davies said.
“This approach does not apply to domestic violence scenarios. This is about managing the mundane, everyday arguments that couples have and that can escalate,” McCurry said.
Eric Mastrota is a Contributing Editor at The National Digest based in New York. A graduate of SUNY New Paltz, he reports on world news, culture, and lifestyle. You can reach him at eric.mastrota@thenationaldigest.com.