Hello everyone. To be clear, I am not looking for advice about my relationship or my communication skills. I’m interested in hearing about other men’s experiences and thought processes. If you want to explain why you respond the way you do, that would be awesome. I’m curious about the instinct many men seem to have to immediately look for a solution when their partner brings them a problem. For example, if a partner says, “I’m frustrated that we didn’t get to spend much time together this weekend,” is your first instinct to think about how to fix the situation, or is it more natural for you to simply listen and acknowledge what they’re feeling? I’m interested in whether the “find a solution” instinct changes when the problem is within the relationship itself, rather than something external involving a friend, coworker, family member, etc. For those of you who tend to go into fix-it mode, what do you think drives that instinct? Is it a desire to help, a sense of responsibility, discomfort with leaving a problem unresolved, or something else? And for men who don’t have that instinct, what does your thought process look like instead? Again, I’m not asking what to should do or how I should handle my relationship. I’m simply interested in hearing how other men experience this distinction between listening/acknowledging and trying to solve the problem. submitted by /u/LevelResponse3604
Originally posted by u/LevelResponse3604 on r/AskMen