Within my hypnotherapy practice I see a regular and not insignificant number of women who in times of hardship (money, family, relationship stress etc) cannot understand why their equally stressed husband/ partner isn’t supportive, and can sometimes be quite nasty. Now of course, within the realms of the consulting room I can certainly help my patient’s deal with the stress and to be better able to cope with their partner’s behaviour. However, I cannot help with the male partner than I cannot see.

An interesting study from UCLA has noted that whilst both partners can offer equal support in times of no stress, when stress is present, the male tends to be more negative to their partner and less supportive if the female partner expresses their own stress in an emotional way. If expressed in a matter-of-fact  or neutral way, the male partner is more likely to respond positively.

This is very interesting and whilst it doesn’t explain why, I will certainly be using it in my therapy room as good advice for my female clients who need improved support and understanding from their male partner.
Introduction by Mark Jones Hypnotherapy 

Stress May Keep Men from Providing Appropriate Emotional Support to Partner

The ability to provide, and to receive, emotional support from a partner is an important element of a successful relationship.

A new study by an international team of psychologists, discovered that in the absence of stress, both men and women can both provide strong support to their partners.

But when under stress, women do a better job than men of being supportive.

The study is published online by the journal Psychological Science.

“Men seem to be different when it comes to managing stress,” said Thomas Bradbury, the paper’s senior author and co-director of the Relationship Institute at University of California (UCLA).

“When men are stressed, they are more likely to be critical in responding to a stressed partner and less likely to be positive, nurturing, and comforting. And that’s especially the case when their partner expresses her feelings in more emotional terms.”

Investigators studied 189 couples who were highly satisfied with their relationships and had been together for an average of slightly more than four years. The women had an average age of 26; the men, 28. The study divided the couples into three groups: one in which only the man was stressed; one in which only the woman was stressed; and a third in which both were.

Each couple was placed together in a room and videotaped by the researchers for eight minutes. The researchers induced stress by conducting mock job interviews with each participant and then asking them to count down from 2,043 in increments of 17, as fast as possible — telling them to start over each time they made a mistake.

To measure stress levels, the researchers took saliva samples and tested the participants’ levels of cortisol — a hormone released during stressful events.

The results showed that the test was very stressful for men and for women.

While analyzing the videotapes, the psychologists recorded how the participants under stress expressed themselves, either matter-of-factly (saying, for example, “They had me give a speech” or “I had to do math problems, and they corrected me every time I got them wrong”) or emotionally (“I’m a wreck!” or “They must think I’m a complete idiot!”).

Researchers also analysed whether the partner offered positive support (for example, “You did the best you could under difficult circumstances; no one can ask for more” or “It amazes me how well you deal with stress; you’re so much better at it than I am”) or negative (“You’re overreacting” or “Sounds rough, but do you have any plans for dinner tonight?”).

Investigators also assessed whether the couples’ non-verbal behavior was positive, such as holding hands or hugging, or negative, such as playing with objects and avoiding eye contact.

Bradbury said the results suggest ways that couples could engage one another on occasions when they have both had difficult days. If a wife knows her partner also has had a hard day, expressing her stress in a calm, matter-of-fact way is more likely to elicit a good response from him than an emotional recap.

And under those circumstances, Bradbury said, “The man might be advised to say something like, ‘Honey, I want to hear everything you have to say, but I had a really hard day. Can I just get 10 or 15 minutes to myself? Then we’ll talk.’ A gradual transition like this will be easier for him than an abrupt one, allowing both partners to re-engage and collaborate on whatever challenges they are facing.”

Regardless of their sexual orientation, both men and women can benefit from acknowledging the role stress plays in these scenarios — by recognizing that they really cannot know how stressed their partner is without asking directly, and by understanding that stress can interfere with their ability to stay connected.

“The outside stress that partners bring into their relationship can be a real challenge,” Bradbury said.

“That’s because stress can increase both partners’ needs for support while also making it less likely that either partner will receive it. Couples who appreciate the subtle effects of stress can rise to the challenge, and even grow closer because of how they respond.”

Among the findings:

While unstressed, women responded with slightly more positive support than unstressed men, but both unstressed men and unstressed women provided plenty of positive support to their partners;
Women are better than men at responding to a partner’s emotional expressions of anxiety and stress. Men are more likely to get emotionally “flooded” in these moments, leading them to be less positive and to express less empathy;
When men become stressed, their ability to generate positive support deteriorates and they make a greater number of negative comments.
Men who are stressed are supportive when their partner expresses her stress in emotionally neutral or matter-of-fact terms, but are less responsive when she expresses stress in emotional terms.

“Stress is an invisible killer in relationships,” said Bradbury, a professor of psychology at UCLA.

“It increases men’s tendency to be less supportive when their partner has had a bad day, and especially if she is visibly upset.

Yet the woman on the receiving end of this negativity might not realise that stress is the culprit, which leaves both partners feeling misunderstood.”

Source: Psychcentral.com