The present research builds upon the extant literature as it assesses psychophysiological factors in relation to empathy, conflict resolution, and romantic relationship satisfaction. In this study, we examined physiological reactivity of individuals in the context of emotionally laden interactions with their romantic partners. Participants (N = 31) completed self-report measures and attended in-person data collection sessions with their romantic partners. Participants were guided through discussions of problems and strengths of their relationships in vivo with their partners while we measured participants’ skin conductance level (SCL) and interbeat interval (IBI) of the heart. We hypothesized that participants’ level of empathy towards their partners would be reflected by physiological arousal (as measured by SCL and IBI) and relationship satisfaction, such that higher levels of empathy would be linked to changes in physiological arousal and higher relationship satisfaction. Further, we hypothesized that differences would be found in physiological arousal (as measured by SCL and IBI) based on the type of conflict resolution strategy used by participants. Finally, we hypothesized that differences would be found in empathy towards partner and relationship satisfaction based on the type of conflict resolution strategies used by participants. Results partially supported hypotheses and were discussed in light of existing knowledge based on empirical and theoretical sources.
You may also like
We recently hosted a webinar with Indi Young, author, UX consultant, and founding partner at Adaptive Path. Check out the video to hear what Indi had to say about empathy, or read the full transcript of the session below!Indi: Great! Thank you, Ma…
See it on Scoop.it, via Empathy and Compassion
A core leadership competency is the one often missing in the higher levels of management. Empathy may seem far removed from the rough and tumble world of business, but the capacity to understand other perspectives has become increasingly necessary…
With the Easter Sunday bombing in Pakistan that killed at least 60 people marking thesecond terrorist attack within a week, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg shared his thoughts on the state of our world.In a statement posted to his Facebook …