Arthur C. Brooks argues that contempt, not anger, predicts divorce. Contempt is anger mixed with disgust that treats a partner as worthless, often shown through eye-rolling. Anger, by contrast, signals you still care enough to want change.
Anger and divorce are uncorrelated. What's correlated with divorce is contempt, which is a complex emotion that mixes anger and disgust. And so when you have anger and disgust, it's an ice-cold, very complex emotion where you treat somebody as if they were worthless. You and your girlfriend are having a big argument, you and your wife, whatever, having a big argument, and she rolls her eyes at something you say. That's a huge predictor of dissolution of the relationship. That expresses contempt. Anger is no problem. Anger says, I care what you think and I want it to change. It's passion.
