Hear, we’ve all been there. It’s a natural instinct to need to defend ourselves from threats, whether or not that risk is a saber-tooth tiger leaping at us from the bushes or your spouse asking you why the laundry by no means acquired accomplished at present.
However the issue is, defensiveness is anathema to connection. Once we defend ourselves in dialog, usually it’s on the expense of our companion feeling like their wants and feelings matter. We prioritize defending our ego over caring for our companion and our relationship.
“There are only a few eventualities by which we actually must defend our viewpoint. Relatively, we’re largely pushed to take action by the need to be proper,” Earnshaw writes at mbg. “In these moments, we’re held inside the grips of the ego, which acts as a barrier to genuine communication and connection.”
Defensiveness can have disastrous penalties for a relationship. In response to analysis by psychologist John Gottman, Ph.D., defensiveness is certainly one of 4 communication habits—dubbed the “four horsemen”—tied to an elevated chance of divorce.
“Getting caught up in explaining why one individual’s perspective is correct and the opposite individual is improper is among the most unhealthy communication dynamics that folks can enter into in relationships,” Earnshaw explains.
