How it gets worse without anyone deciding to

Four boxes and a loop. The point is not the boxes. The point is where the next argument starts.

CriticismDefensivenessContemptStonewalling
Each round tends to start further along than the last, unless something interrupts it, which is what lesson four is about. The diagram shows a loop running through: Criticism, then Defensiveness, then Contempt, then Stonewalling.