The most common rows are over household chores, children "treating the house like a hotel", and couples taking each other for granted, a survey of 3,000 families found.

Fights flare up three times a day, usually lasting for five minutes. Families spend 91 hours a year arguing, with mothers the worst culprits for shouting and sulking.

Mark De Netto, spokesman for family database Uinvue – who organised the research – said: "It was interesting to note that mum still seems to play the pivotal role within the family.

"However the results do show that dads are getting far more involved."

Researchers found that daughters were most likely to slam doors during an argument, while fathers preferred to go for a long drive to cool off.

Television was a big source of disagreement, with mothers preferring soap operas, fathers wanting to watch sport or documentaries, and children arguing for films or reality TV shows.

Mr De Netto said: "Although arguments are a common factor in all families, our results show that they play a vital role in building and strengthening bonds within the family and act as a release valve for family members, so minor arguments do play a positive role in family life.

"We do still think it is worthwhile counting slowly to ten sometimes."

One in ten of the families polled said they were not on speaking terms at the time of the survey.

最新调查表明，父母和子女每天至少发生三次争执，而大多数情况下都由母亲引起。

这项针对三千个家庭的调查发现，最普遍的争吵诱因是家务活，孩子“把家当旅馆”以及夫妻之间互相指望。

调查发现，家庭争吵每天爆发三次，每次通常持续五分钟。受访家庭每年的争吵时间平均为91个小时，而导致争吵的最大“罪魁祸首”是母亲。

组织该调查的Uinvue家庭数据库机构发言人马克·德·内图说：“有意思的是，母亲在家庭中仍起着关键性的作用。”

“然而调查结果同时表明，父亲在家庭中的作用越来越大。”

调查人员发现，女儿在争吵时最爱摔门而去，而父亲则喜欢开车出去转一圈，让自己冷静下来。

电视是引发矛盾的一大诱因。妈妈爱看肥皂剧，爸爸想看体育节目或纪录片，而孩子们则想看电影或者真人秀。

德·内图先生说：“虽然争吵是所有家庭都存在的一个问题，但我们的调查结果表明，这对于建立和加强家庭成员的联系至关重要，是家庭成员的解压阀。所以小吵小闹对于家庭生活具有积极作用。”

“我们仍然认为，有时从一慢慢数到十对控制情绪很有帮助。”

十分之一的受访家庭表示，在调查开展时，家庭成员之间正处于冷战状态。