People unhappy in their relationship spend more time during disagreements focusing on their anger and frustration. In happy couples, when one partner has a lot of emotion the other tends to balance things out by focusing on understanding their partner and resolving the conflict, according to Prof. Anita Vangelisti at the University of Texas, Austin. Her study found that unhappy couples think more about how repetitive the discussion felt, the power they or their partner had, and their emotions, such as anger and frustration. Women tended to blame their partner more than did men. Happy couples, on the other hand, tend to balance each other out, so when one person is upset, the other is less emotional and more focused on fixing the problem and ending the conflict.
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