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Areas › Your marriage › Staying regulated in conflict
I was scared when you did not call is a complaint. You are so selfish is an attack. Aim for the first.
Do not speak ill of one another or use offensive nicknames (Quran 49:11). The line between a complaint and a character assault is exactly this.
الحجرات
يَٰٓأَيُّهَا ٱلَّذِينَ ءَامَنُواْ لَا يَسۡخَرۡ قَوۡمࣱ مِّن قَوۡمٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُونُواْ خَيۡرࣰ ا مِّنۡهُمۡ وَلَا نِسَآءࣱ مِّن نِّسَآءٍ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَكُنَّ خَيۡرࣰ ا مِّنۡهُنَّۖ وَلَا تَلۡمِزُوٓاْ أَنفُسَكُمۡ وَلَا تَنَابَزُواْ بِٱلۡأَلۡقَٰبِۖ بِئۡسَ ٱلِٱسۡمُ ٱلۡفُسُوقُ بَعۡدَ ٱلۡإِيمَٰنِۚ وَمَن لَّمۡ يَتُبۡ فَأُوْلَٰٓئِكَ هُمُ ٱلظَّٰلِمُونَ
Believers, no one group of men should jeer at another, who may after all be better than them; no one group of women should jeer at another, who may after all be better than them; do not speak ill of one another; do not use offensive nicknames for one another. How bad it is to be called a mischief-maker after accepting faith! Those who do not repent of this behaviour are evildoers
Qur’an 49:11read it in the library
Translation: M.A.S. Abdel Haleem, The Qur'an, Oxford University Press, 2004.
Gottman treats criticism, an attack on character, as the horseman that opens the door to the rest, and a complaint about one behaviour as its antidote. Naming the behaviour and your feeling keeps the problem solvable.
John M. Gottman; Nan Silver (1999). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Crown
The Four Horsemen: criticism, contempt, defensiveness and stonewalling. The antidotes are a gentle start-up, a culture of appreciation, taking responsibility for a part, and a physiological self-soothing break.
John M. Gottman; Nan Silver (1999). The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work. Crown
Principle 5, step 1, soften your start-up. A discussion ends on the note it began on. A complaint stated as I feel, about what, and what I need avoids the harsh start-up that predicts a failed conversation.
Strength of evidence: one line of research. A single study, or a theoretical account.
Complaining about a specific behavior, rather than attacking character, keeps conflict solvable and safe.
Where this sits: Gottman method, Manage Conflict; Four Horsemen, antidote to Criticism (gentle start-up).