Based on how couples handle conflict. Four highly significant predictors involve four negative ways of interacting. Withdrawal is the automatic tendency to move away from any perceived conflict. It might involve silence, leaving the room, changing the subject even making a sandwich. Although I meet women who withdraw, men tend to be the champions of this pattern.
Escalation exhibits itself fairly evenly among men and women.
It happens when someone exchanges one negative thought, emotion, or behavior for an even greater negative. N Negative interpretation. This is the pattern which females tend to champion. Negative interpretation is a pervasive perception attributing a negative to any behavior, thought or expression. In other words, it assumes that the partner has a negative motivation.