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Guardian

Five-second breaks can help defuse couples’ arguments, study shows

Guardian
Summary
Nutrition label

82% Informative

Just five seconds was equally effective as longer enforced breaks, according to study.

University of St Andrews researchers say it could save the need for costly counselling.

Researchers found that couples tended to match each other’s level of aggression, even at high levels.

However, enforcing a short break disrupted this pattern of retaliation, leading to lower overall aggression.

VR Score

85

Informative language

86

Neutral language

59

Article tone

informal

Language

English

Language complexity

63

Offensive language

possibly offensive

Hate speech

not hateful

Attention-grabbing headline

not detected

Known propaganda techniques

not detected

Time-value

long-living

Source diversity

1

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