Calmness of Wives during Heated Arguments is the Only Secret to Surviving Relationship

Wives who are able to remain calm even during heated arguments with their partners can help salvage relationships, a new study reveals.

Researchers from the University of Berkeley claim that a wives ability to regain their normal mood immediately after a heated argument is the only secret to living a happy married life. They said that this behavior among women is more important for them than their husband's reaction after their fight. They assessed recorded interactions of 80 heterosexual couples who were middle-aged or older and focused on disagreements and how the couples dealt with them. The results of their study were published in the journal Emotion.

"Wives play a big role in handling the negative emotions at the time of conflict," Lian Bloch, lead author of the study said. "Anger in both the couple may threaten their married life, but the wife's ability to remain calm can save their lives from getting threatened. But our study suggests that if spouses, especially wives are able to calm themselves, their marriages can continue to thrive," she added.

"Ironically, this may not work so well for husbands, who wives often criticize for leaping into problem-solving mode too quickly," said Robert Levenson, UC Berkeley psychologist and lead author of the study. Claudia Haase, assistant professor at Northwestern University and co-author of the study confirms that age may also have a factor in how couples communicate during arguments.

"The middle-aged and older couples in our study grew up in a world that treated men and women very differently. It will be interesting to see how these gender dynamics play out in younger couples," she said. The researchers are also looking into the subtle dynamics of heterosexual marriages, according to Medical News Today.