Has your spouse ever given you an ultimatum? Have you given your spouse one? Not all types of ultimatums can be bad. Your motive behind them is what’s important. Are you trying to control them, or are you trying to protect them or your loved ones from their destructive behavior?An ultimatum says that a specific thing needs to stop or occur in a certain time frame; otherwise, a negative consequence will be the result. People react to demands such as this differently. There are psychological reasons behind this that start to develop when we are as small as two-years-old. The desire to follow your own free will is why ultimatums often get a negative response. However, that doesn’t mean that they don’t have their uses.