What are the four horsemen of the apocalypse in Gottman's model of couples communication, and what repair attempts help mitigate them?

• A. Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling; repair attempts include I-statements and apologies.
• B. Anger, withdrawal, blaming, and sarcasm; repair attempts include humor.
• C. Conflicts, fights, silence, and reconciliation; repair attempts include time-outs.
• D. Criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling; repair attempts include I-statements, apologies, appreciation, humor, and taking a time-out.

Answer: (D)

Gottman’s model identifies four negative communication patterns that tend to derail couples’ interactions and predict relationship problems: criticism, contempt, defensiveness, and stonewalling. Understanding how to counter these patterns with repair attempts helps couples maintain connection during conflicts. Repair attempts include expressing your feelings and needs with I-statements rather than blaming the partner, offering sincere apologies when you’ve hurt your partner, showing genuine appreciation to counteract contempt and build warmth, using appropriate humor to reduce tension, and taking a time-out to cool down before continuing the discussion. These tools work by reframing the interaction, repairing trust, and restoring positive affect, which helps prevent escalation from the four horsemen. Some other choices either list patterns not identified as the quartet or omit key repair strategies, making them less accurate.