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- All Subjects: Couples--Psychology.
- Creators: Burleson, Mary
- Creators: Ha, Thao
Description
The goal of this study was to examine the correlation between the brain's preconscious processing of relationship events and direct observation of couples' behavior during a videotaped discussion task. Although we know about the interaction dynamics within romantic relationships that portend conflict and dissatisfaction, very little is known about how individuals read interpersonal events within their relationship. Romantic partners participated in a dyadic EEG (electroencephalogram) lab session in which they played a gambling task. The gambling task consisted of three conditions: 1) individual gambling 2) watching their partners gamble and 3) gambling with advice from their partners. Following the gambling tasks, partners were videotaped discussing relationship topics. Neurocognitive reactions to winning and losing a gamble in response to partner's advice were analyzed as an Evoked Response Potential (ERP). The ERP of interest was the P300, which is associated with the brain making sense of unexpected information. Using an actor partner framework, it was found that the females' P300 predicted observed coercive interaction patterns. This finding suggests that for females with an established coercive relationship with their male partners, positive feedback was unexpected compared to losing.
ContributorsChampion, Charlie (Author) / Dishion, Thomas (Thesis advisor) / Ha, Thao (Committee member) / Randall, Ashley (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
Affection represents a positive and often intimate psychological state (Floyd & Morman, 1998) that is communicated through verbal, nonverbal, and social supportive behaviors. A formidable research literature indicates that receiving and expressing affection significantly benefits health. One form of affection that may produce these benefits is cuddling. Cuddling includes intimate, physical, and loving whole-body contact that does not necessarily include sexual activity and tends to be reserved for very intimate relationships. Working from affectionate exchange theory (Floyd, 2001), this study’s purpose is to examine the effects of cuddling on relational health for individuals living with their spouse. To test a causal relationship between cuddling and relational health, a four-week experiment was conducted. Eighty adults were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: (1) a treatment condition in which individuals were instructed to increase cuddling behaviors with their spouse, (2) a comparison condition in which individuals were instructed to increase shared mealtime with their spouse, or (3) a control condition in which individuals were instructed to not change their behavior. Individuals in the treatment condition were predicted to experience significant improvements in relational health as outlined in the investment model (i.e., relational satisfaction, investment, quality of alternatives, and commitment) to a greater extent than individuals in the comparison or control conditions. A research question explored whether individuals in the comparison condition differed from those in the control condition. Planned contrasts were conducted to test the hypotheses. Results revealed that individuals in the treatment condition reported more relationship satisfaction and commitment and less quality of alternatives than individuals in the comparison and control conditions. Experimental conditions did not differ on reports of investment. Finally, individuals in the comparison and control conditions did not differ on any of the relational health markers. These findings support affection exchange theory and contribute to a growing literature identifying the benefits of affectionate communication. Moreover, the methodology and results of this study provide compelling evidence for a causal relationship between cuddling and satisfaction and commitment for relatively satisfied couples.
Contributorsvan Raalte, Lisa J (Author) / Floyd, Kory (Thesis advisor) / Mongeau, Paul (Thesis advisor) / Burleson, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017