Women get more worked up during fights with a significant other, but men cause those fights. You knew it, right?
This is according to a new study from the University of Granada, Spain, published in the journal Psychosocial Intervention and reported on in the UK’s Daily Mail.The study analyzed the type of interpersonal emotions men and women feel when facing conflicts within a relationship and found that men expressed more “powerful undermining emotions,” such as wrath or contempt, than women. Women, however, were found to feel more intense emotions, both powerful and non-powerful.
The Daily Mail also says men are the “cause” of more fights. Sounds about right to me! Now I have PROOF that I can wave around whenever I remind my husband that every fight we’ve ever had is all his fault. Ha.
And yes, in 10 years, we’ve had some doozies, usually about dumb stuff. Of course, what we’re really fighting about is feeling under-appreciated, unacknowledged, afraid or lonely. But we don’t know how to express that, so the unfolded laundry becomes a representation of everything that’s wrong.
And the laundry isn’t the most ridiculous thing we’ve ever fought about. There was the time we almost broke up over who unplugged the computer (he started it).
In the spirit of fight research, I thought it would be fun to collect some stories on the most ridiculous fight people have ever had with a partner. Enjoy!
See right through it
We had double sliding windows. It was cold in the house, so he said, “Is a window open?” I said, “No, they’re closed.” He found one of the outside windows was open and we got into a massive, screaming fight over what constituted an open window vs. a closed window. – Amber
Serious beef
We used to fight about groceries all the time. He would always want to buy a whole chicken, pig, cow or whatever, so it can be plucked, frozen and chopped up or what have you. I prefer my animals as hamburger patties or chicken nuggets, even if it costs me an extra 30 cents. One time we had a shouting match at the grocery store over burgers. – Kelly
Dishwasher safe
He hates the way I load the dishwasher and says I waste too much space. It makes him really mad. It’s weird, and ongoing. – Ruth
Sugar coated
We got into a huge fight that almost came to blows over the last piece of a chocolate bar while on an eight-day hike in Tasmania. This after I had insisted on not bringing many – translation: enough – sugary snacks. Apparently hiking is hard work and the body wants sugar. – Bridget
Helping hand
Dinner was destroyed over how to chop garlic. I tried to show her how to smash it first, because it makes it easier to peel, and she accused me of being a control freak. – Benjamin
Law and Order: door edition
How to kick in a door. We were watching one of those crime shows and I didn’t believe it would be that easy to kick in a door. He said I didn’t know anything about kicking in doors and I pointed out that he didn’t either. It got pretty heated from there. To this day, neither one of us has ever kicked in a door. – Marianne
Cheap shot
The pronunciation of the word “coupon” almost ruined the day. For the record, it’s “cou-pon” not “cew-pon.” – Christine
Puppy love
She accused me of paying too much attention to my sick, old dog and not enough to her. We didn’t last much longer after that. – Graham
Roaring snoring
My husband snores so loud I can’t sleep, even with earplugs. He tells me I’m crazy and should be able to sleep through it and gets mad when I move to the couch because it makes him feel rejected. – Karla
Asleep affair
My wife had a dream that I had an affair and was mad at me all day. – David
No one is “winning”
Whether or not Charlie Sheen was in Platoon – ‘ I said he wasn’t and we fought in the car all the way home until we could check online. I was actually thinking of Full Metal Jacket. I always confuse those two movies. – Suzanne
