It would be interesting to gather data on the subject, but it seems to be one of those commonly-understood truths. I suppose you could study it by showing men a

It would be interesting to gather data on the subject, but it seems to be one of those commonly-understood truths. I suppose you could study it by showing men and women a pair of conversation transcripts about relationships, one of which accomplishes nothing, and one of which ends in a useful resolution ("I feel X," "That's terrible," versus "I feel X," "You should Y."). Then men and women could rate which conversation seemed better, according to a couple qualities. It might be hard to get funding, though.