Abstract
Interdependence, including emotional interdependence, is widely considered to be a cornerstone of close relationships. Through frequent interactions, romantic partners are thought to continuously exchange, influence, and respond to one another's emotions, leading their feelings to become closely aligned over time. Although prior research has shown that such emotional interdependence can arise in couples, no research to date has comprehensively investigated its occurrence, degree, consistency and correlates. Across 3 different studies, we examined whether and to what extent couples indeed show interpersonal emotional connections (compared to pseudocouples). Additionally, we investigated its consistency and moderating factors, by examining emotional interdependence across different types of emotions (negative vs. positive vs. emotional extremity), timescales (second-to-second vs. daily life), and situational contexts (supportive vs. conflictual), and by inspecting associations with indicators of relationship closeness (relationship longevity, cohabitation status, commitment, and closeness in terms of including the other in the self). The findings show limited evidence for emotional interdependence. The overall mean level of interdependence was significantly larger than that of randomly composed couples, but only a minority of the couples demonstrated emotional interdependence to a greater extent than these pseudocouples. Moreover, the degree to which couples exhibited emotional interdependence showed little consistency across timescales and contexts, and was not clearly associated with relationship closeness. We discuss potential implications for the field of interpersonal emotion dynamics.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Journal | Journal of Personality and Social Psychology |
| DOIs | |
| State | Accepted/In press - Jan 1 2019 |
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Keywords
- Close relationships
- Emotion
- Emotion transmission
- Interdependence
- Interpersonal emotion dynamics
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Social Psychology
- Sociology and Political Science
Cite this
The Occurrence and Correlates of Emotional Interdependence in Romantic Relationships. / Sels, Laura; Cabrieto, Jed; Butler, Emily; Reis, Harry; Ceulemans, Eva; Kuppens, Peter.
In: Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 01.01.2019.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - The Occurrence and Correlates of Emotional Interdependence in Romantic Relationships
AU - Sels, Laura
AU - Cabrieto, Jed
AU - Butler, Emily
AU - Reis, Harry
AU - Ceulemans, Eva
AU - Kuppens, Peter
PY - 2019/1/1
Y1 - 2019/1/1
N2 - Interdependence, including emotional interdependence, is widely considered to be a cornerstone of close relationships. Through frequent interactions, romantic partners are thought to continuously exchange, influence, and respond to one another's emotions, leading their feelings to become closely aligned over time. Although prior research has shown that such emotional interdependence can arise in couples, no research to date has comprehensively investigated its occurrence, degree, consistency and correlates. Across 3 different studies, we examined whether and to what extent couples indeed show interpersonal emotional connections (compared to pseudocouples). Additionally, we investigated its consistency and moderating factors, by examining emotional interdependence across different types of emotions (negative vs. positive vs. emotional extremity), timescales (second-to-second vs. daily life), and situational contexts (supportive vs. conflictual), and by inspecting associations with indicators of relationship closeness (relationship longevity, cohabitation status, commitment, and closeness in terms of including the other in the self). The findings show limited evidence for emotional interdependence. The overall mean level of interdependence was significantly larger than that of randomly composed couples, but only a minority of the couples demonstrated emotional interdependence to a greater extent than these pseudocouples. Moreover, the degree to which couples exhibited emotional interdependence showed little consistency across timescales and contexts, and was not clearly associated with relationship closeness. We discuss potential implications for the field of interpersonal emotion dynamics.
AB - Interdependence, including emotional interdependence, is widely considered to be a cornerstone of close relationships. Through frequent interactions, romantic partners are thought to continuously exchange, influence, and respond to one another's emotions, leading their feelings to become closely aligned over time. Although prior research has shown that such emotional interdependence can arise in couples, no research to date has comprehensively investigated its occurrence, degree, consistency and correlates. Across 3 different studies, we examined whether and to what extent couples indeed show interpersonal emotional connections (compared to pseudocouples). Additionally, we investigated its consistency and moderating factors, by examining emotional interdependence across different types of emotions (negative vs. positive vs. emotional extremity), timescales (second-to-second vs. daily life), and situational contexts (supportive vs. conflictual), and by inspecting associations with indicators of relationship closeness (relationship longevity, cohabitation status, commitment, and closeness in terms of including the other in the self). The findings show limited evidence for emotional interdependence. The overall mean level of interdependence was significantly larger than that of randomly composed couples, but only a minority of the couples demonstrated emotional interdependence to a greater extent than these pseudocouples. Moreover, the degree to which couples exhibited emotional interdependence showed little consistency across timescales and contexts, and was not clearly associated with relationship closeness. We discuss potential implications for the field of interpersonal emotion dynamics.
KW - Close relationships
KW - Emotion
KW - Emotion transmission
KW - Interdependence
KW - Interpersonal emotion dynamics
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85072601593&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85072601593&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1037/pspi0000212
DO - 10.1037/pspi0000212
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85072601593
JO - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
JF - Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
SN - 0022-3514
ER -