[2] This theory focuses on the negative influence of verbal and nonverbal communication habits on marriages and other relationships.
[1] Until the development of the model (1992-1994), little research had been conducted on specific interactive behaviors and processes that result in marital dissatisfaction, separation, and divorce.
[3][4] Gottman's and Levenson's research indicated that not all negative interactions, like anger, are predictive of relational separation and divorce.
[5] Gottman's and Levenson's Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse theory centers around the concept that the behaviors below work in a cascade model, in which one leads to the other, creating a continued environment of negativity and hostility.
[3][7] Gottman defines criticism as a type of complaint that blames or attacks a partner's personality or character.
[4] Gottman's and Levenson's research found that wives' criticism correlated to separation and possible dissolution, but this was not so with husbands.
[3][7] Defensiveness is a protective behavior and is indicated by shifting blame and avoiding responsibility, often in an attempt to defend against the first two horsemen.
Fowler and Dillow also characterize defensiveness as using counterattack behaviors such as whining, making negative assumptions about the other's feelings, and denials of responsibility.
Contempt is expressed verbally through mocking, sarcasm, and indignation, with an attempt to claim moral superiority over one's partner.
Stonewalling occurs when parties create mental and physical distance to avoid conflict by appearing busy, responding in grunts, and disengaging from the communication process.
[7][6] Gottman's and Levenson's research found it to be most common among men and a very challenging behavior to redirect once it becomes habitual.
[4][3] Gottman and his team did more extensive research in follow-up to this study, testing whether or not couples who exhibited these “horseman” were more or less likely to divorce.
[4] RCISS consists of a thirteen-point speaker behavior and a nine-point listener checklist, which can be broken down into five positive and eight negative codes.
[4] Information obtained from the RCISS and SPAFF analysis lead to the formation of the idea of regulated and non-regulated couples.
[6][4] Gottman's research indicates that there are five types of marriages: three of which are stable and avoid entering the Cascade Model, and two that are volatile.
"[15] This theory proposes that "hostile and hostile-detached couples simply fail to create a stable adaptation to marriage that is either volatile, validating, or avoiding.
"[15] The belief is that marital instability arises from a couples inability to accommodate one-another's preferences and create one of the three types of marriage.
[16] Researchers Fowler and Dillow note that avoidance attachment can be predictive of defensiveness and stonewalling whereby an individual is reluctant to depend on others.
[19] Additionally, researcher Stanley Scott and his colleagues noted that Gottman's highly publicized research findings from 1998, which recommended significant shifts in focus and application for marital educators and therapists, including the de-emphasis of anger management and active listening, has several flaws.