“What if the chat you avoid having could help resolve a problem in your relationship, or clarify an area of disagreement? What if it wouldn’t be nearly as rough as you expect? . . . Nicholas Epley, a psychologist at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, and his colleagues have repeatedly found that sit-down conversations—even ones about seemingly touchy subjects—often end up being more positive experiences than people anticipate.”
https://psyche.co/ideas/why-that-hard-conversation-will-probably-go-better-than-you-think