Effects of empathy and conflict resolution strategies on psychophysiological arousal and satisfaction in romantic relationships

Applied Psychophysiology Biofeedback

Volumn 39, Issue 1, 2014, Pages 19-25

  Perrone Mcgovern, Kristin M ^a   Oliveira Silva, Patrícia ^b   Simon Dack, Stephanie ^a   Lefdahl Davis, Erin ^a   Adams, David ^a   McConnell, John ^a   Howell, Desiree ^a   Hess, Ryan ^a   Davis, Andrew ^a   Gonçalves, Óscar F ^c  

^a BALL STATE UNIVERSITY   (United States)

^b UNIVERSITY OF MINHO   (Portugal)

^c NORTHEASTERN UNIVERSITY   (United States)

Author keywords

Conflict resolution; Couples; Empathy; Interbeat interval of the heart; Physiological measures; Relationship satisfaction; Skin conductance

Indexed keywords

ADULT; AROUSAL; ARTICLE; EMPATHY; FAMILY SIZE; FEMALE; HUMAN; HUMAN RELATION; INTERPERSONAL COMMUNICATION; LOVE; MALE; PHYSIOLOGY; SATISFACTION; YOUNG ADULT;

ADULT; AROUSAL; EMPATHY; FAMILY CHARACTERISTICS; FEMALE; HUMANS; INTERPERSONAL RELATIONS; LOVE; MALE; NEGOTIATING; PERSONAL SATISFACTION; YOUNG ADULT;

EID: 84899433248     PISSN: 10900586     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1007/s10484-013-9237-2     Document Type: Article

References (29)

1. Andreassi, J. L. (2007). Psychophysiology: Human behavior and physiological response (5th ed.). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
2. Berntson, G. G.; Cacioppo, J. T.; Quigley, K. S. (1995). The metrics of cardiac chronotropism: Biometric perspectives. Psychophysiology, 32, 162-171.
3. Boucsein, W. (2012). Electrodermal activity (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Springer.
4. Bradbury, T. N.; Karney, B. R. (2004). Understanding and altering the longitudinal course of marriage. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 862-879. doi: 10.1111/j.0022-2445.2004.00059.x.
5. Cacioppo, J. T.; Tassinary, L. G. (1990). Inferring psychological significance from physiological signals. American Psychologist, 45(1), 16-28. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.45.1.16.
6. Christensen, A.; Atkins, D. C.; Berns, S.; Wheeler, J.; Baucom, D. H.; Simpson, L. E. (2004). Traditional versus integrative behavioral couple therapy for significantly and chronically distressed married couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(2), 176-191. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.72.2. 176.
7. Christensen, A.; Jacobson, N. S.; Babcock, J. C. (1995). Integrative behavioral couple therapy. In N. S. Jacobson & A. S. Gurman (Eds.), Clinical handbook of couple therapy (pp. 31-64). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
8. Croyle, R. T.; Cooper, J. (1983). Dissonance arousal: Physiological evidence. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 45, 782-791. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.45.4.782.
9. Damasio, A. R. (1994). The brain binds entities and events by multiregional activation from convergence zones. In H. H. Gutfreund & G. G. Toulouse (Eds.), Biology and computation: A physicist's choice (pp. 749-758). River Edge, NJ: World Scientific Publishing Co.
10. Davis, M. H. (1983). Measuring individual differences in empathy: Evidence for a multidimensional approach. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 44(1), 113-126. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.44.1.113.
11. Decety, J.; Ickes, W. (2009). The social neuroscience of empathy. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
12. Dinkel, A.; Balck, F. (2005). An evaluation of the German relationship assessment scale. Swiss Journal Of Psychology, 64(4), 259-263. doi: 10.1024/1421-0185.64.4.259.
13. Frazier, T. W.; Strauss, M. E.; Steinhauer, S. R. (2004). Respiratory sinus arrhythmia as an index of emotional response in young adults. Psychophysiology, 41(1), 75-83. doi: 10.1046/j.1469-8986.2003.00131.x.
14. Hanzal, A.; Segrin, C. (2009). The role of conflict resolution styles in mediating the relationship between enduring vulnerabilities and marital quality. Journal of Family Communication, 9(3), 150-169. doi: 10.1080/15267430902945612.
15. Heavey, C. L.; Layne, C.; Christensen, A. (1993). Gender and conflict structure in marital interaction: A replication and extension. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 61(1), 16-27. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.61.1. 16.
16. Hendrick, S. S.; Dicke, A.; Hendrick, C. (1998). The relationship assessment scale. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.; 15(1), 137-142. doi: 10.1177/0265407598151009.
17. Jacobson, N. S.; Christensen, A.; Prince, S. E.; Cordova, J.; Eldridge, K. (2000). Integrative behavioral couple therapy an acceptance-based, promising new treatment for couple discord. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68(2), 351-355. doi: 10.1037/0022-006X.68.2.351.
18. Kurdek, L. A. (1994). Areas of conflict for gay, lesbian, and heterosexual couples: What couples argue about influences relationship satisfaction. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 56(4), 923-934.
19. Lang, P. J.; Bradley, M. M.; Cuthbert, B. N. (1999). International affective picture system: Instruction manual and affective ratings. Technical Report A-4. Gainsville, FL: The Center for Research in Psychophysiology, University of Florida.
20. Levenson, R. W.; Gottman, J. M. (1985). Physiological and affective predictors of change in relationship satisfaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 85-94. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.49.1.85.
21. Long, E. C. (1990). Measuring dyadic perspective taking: Two scales for assessing perspective taking in marriage and similar dyads. Educational and Psychological Measurement, 50(1), 91-103. doi: 10.1177/0013164490501008.
22. Nealey-Moore, J. B.; Smith, T. W.; Uchino, B. N.; Hawkins, M. W.; Olson-Cerny, C. (2007). Cardiovascular reactivity during positive and negative marital interactions. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30, 505-519. doi: 10.1007/s10865-007-9124-5.
23. Péloquin, K.; Lafontaine, M. (2010). Measuring empathy in couples: Validity and reliability of the Interpersonal Reactivity Index for couples. Journal of Personality Assessment, 92, 146-157. doi: 10.1080/00223890903510399.
24. Smith, T. W.; Cribbet, M. R.; Nealey-Moore, J. B.; Uchino, B. N.; Williams, P. G.; MacKenzie, J.; et al. (2010). Matters of the variable heart: Respiratory sinus arrhythmia response to marital interaction and associations with marital quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 103-119. doi: 10.1037/a0021136.
25. Somsen, R. M.; Jennings, J.; van der Molen, M. W. (2004). The cardiac cycle time effect revisited: Temporal dynamics of the central-vagal modulation of heart rate in human reaction time tasks. Psychophysiology, 41(6), 941-953. doi: 10.1111/j.1469-8986.2004.00241.x.
26. Thomsen, D. G.; Gilbert, D. G. (1998). Factors characterizing marital conflict states and traits: Physiological, affective, behavioral and neurotic variable contributions to marital conflict and satisfaction. Personality and Individual Differences, 25(5), 833-855. doi: 10.1016/S0191-8869(98)00064-6.
27. Vaughn, M. J.; Baier, M. E. (1999). Reliability and validity of the relationship assessment scale. American Journal of Family Therapy, 27(2), 137-147. doi: 10.1080/019261899262023.
28. Waldinger, R. J.; Schuz, M. S.; Hauser, S. T.; Allen, J. P.; Crowell, J. A. (2004). Reading others' emotions: The role of intuitive judgments in predicting marital satisfaction, quality, and stability. Journal of Family Psychology, 18(1), 58-71. doi: 10.1037/0893-0893-3200.18.1.58.
29. Westbury, R.; Neumann, D.; Waters, A. (2011). Extending empathy research towards animals. In Psychology of empathy. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers Inc.