If you’ve been yelling at your partner for eight minutes, it might be wise to call an immediate truce.
Give it another 60 seconds and things could get really ugly.
Researchers have found that the nine-minute mark is when marital arguments reach their peak.
The voices of the spouses become increasingly strident up to this point as the dispute intensifies. After that, they remain at the highest frequency.
However, the phenomenon was only observed in couples in unhappy relationships. Those in happy marriages maintained their natural timbre, even at the height of their disagreements.
Researchers have found that the nine-minute mark is when marital arguments reach a fever pitch (File Image)
Researchers say couples could use the tone, rather than volume, of their partner’s voice to tell how angry he or she is getting.
They also found that “a person’s return to normal can be facilitated by their partner: they calm down faster if their partner remains calm.”
Professor Melanie Fischer, who led the study, said: “Once couples become increasingly angry, they can no longer communicate well and may say things they later regret.”
“Therefore, it might be helpful for couples to notice when they or their partner becomes increasingly angry and when their voice becomes louder, and take a break from the argument to calm down.”
His team at Philipps University in Marburg, Germany, listened to hours of tapes from 404 couples (almost all married) to reach their conclusion.
Their ages ranged from 20 to 85 and they were recorded having conversations lasting up to 15 minutes about concerns within the relationship.
Researchers say voice frequency is an indication of how aroused (or ’emotionally aroused’ in their lingo) people are getting.
Researchers say couples could use the pitch, rather than volume, of their partner’s voice to tell how angry they are getting (File Image)
They concluded: “Couples in difficulty may experience difficulties communicating effectively, as both partners become increasingly angry and are only able to stop escalations of emotional arousal quite late.”
“Therefore, at least in the period explored here, they have little opportunity to address difficult questions while at their base level of emotional arousal.”
The results were published in the scientific journal Behavior Research And Therapy.