Psychophysiological Synchrony During Verbal Interaction in Romantic Relationships

• Author: Eugénia Fernandes,Kristin Perrone Mc‐Govern,Diogo Correia,Joana Coutinho,Oscar F. Gonçalves,Wolfgang Tschacher,Patrícia Oliveira‐Silva
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12371
• Date: 01 September 2019
• Published date: 01 September 2019

Psychophysiological Synchrony During Verbal

Interaction in Romantic Relationships

JOANA COUTINHO*

PATRI

´CIA OLIVEIRA-SILVA

†

EUG



ENIA FERNANDES*

OSCAR F. GONC

ßALVES*

DIOGO CORREIA*

KRISTIN PERRONE MC-GOVERN

§

WOLFGANG TSCHACHER

‡

Previous studies about romantic relationships have shown that the reciprocal influence

between partners occurs not only at the behavioral and socio-emotional levels, but also at

the psychophysiological level. This reciprocal influence is expressed in a pattern of physio-

logical synchrony between partners (i.e., coordinated dynamics of the physiological time

series). The main aim of the present study was to explore the presence of a pattern of physio-

logical synchrony in electrodermal activity (EDA) during a couple interaction task. A sec-

ond objective was to compare the synchrony levels during a negative interaction condition

versus a positive interaction condition. Finally, we analyzed the association between syn-

chrony and self-perception of empathy, dyadic empathy, and relationship satisfac tion.

Thirty-two couples (64 individuals) participated in this study. Each couple performed a

structured interaction task while the EDA of both partners was being registered. The quan-

tification of synchrony was based on the cross-correlation of both members’ EDA time-

series. In order to control for coincidental synchrony, surrogate datasets were crea ted by

repeatedly shuffling the original data of spouses X and Y of a dyad and computing syn-

chronies on the basis of the shuffled data (pseudosynchrony values). Our results confirmed

the presence of significant EDA synchrony during the interaction. We also found that syn-

chrony was higher during the negative interactions relative to the positive interactions.

Additionally, physiological synchrony during positive interaction was higher for those cou-

ples in which males scored higher in dyadic empathy. The clinical implications of these

findings are discussed.

Keywords: Intimate Relationships; Physiological Synchrony; Electrodermal Activity

Fam Proc 58:716–733, 2019

*Psychological Neuroscience Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Braga, Portugal.

†

Faculty of Education and Psychology, Catholic University, Porto, Portugal.

‡

Experimental Psychology Unit, University Hospital of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Bern, Switzerland.

§

Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services, Ball State University, Muncie, IN, USA.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Joana Coutinho, Psychological Neuro-

science Laboratory, School of Psychology, University of Minho, Campus de Gualtar, 4710-057, Braga,

Portugal. E-mail: joanafpc@gmail.com.

This study was funded by BIAL Foundation (Grant number 87/12); by the Portuguese Foundation for

Science and Technology and the Portuguese Ministry of Education and Science through National Funds

and cofinanced by FEDER through COMPETE2020 under the PT2020 Partnership Agreement (POCI-01-

0145-FEDER-007653).

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Family Process, Vol. 58, No. 3, 2019 ©2018 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12371

INTRODUCTION

Classical psychophysiological studies on the neural correlates of interactional processes

have shown that rather than the level of autonomic arousal per se, the degree of phys-

iological linkage or synchrony between two interacting partners may be indicative of their

level of dyadic adaptation (e.g., DiMascio, Boyd, & Greenblatt, 1957; Levenson &

Gottman, 1983). Romantic relationships are the central relationship for most adults

(Robles & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2003) and a rich source of emotional interchange (Gottman &

Levenson, 1988), which makes them a relevant context to study the process of physio-

logical synchrony between interacting partners.

The understanding of the factors that influence relationship satisfaction allows us to

identify the couples that may be at a higher risk of instability and stress (Lev enson &

Gottman, 1985). Such effort involves a characterization of the physiological processes

underlying dyadic adaptation. One of those physiological processes is physiological syn-

chrony. This is so because the ability of the members of the couple to regulate each other’s

negative affect and related autonomic arousal is determinant for the couple’s capacity to

succeed or fail (Gottman & Levenson, 1988), particularly in situations of marital conflict

where the emergence of negative affect is more likely to alter the pattern of physiological

activation of each element of the dyad.

Marital conflict and dyadic dysfunction have important health and social consequences.

Low marital quality has been associated with several health conditions (e.g., Coyne et al.,

2001; Greene & Griffin, 1998), which can be explained by the fact that interpersonal con-

flict and related chronic stress is associated with alterations in cardiovascular, endocrine,

and immune function with long-term implications for health (Mayne, O’Leary, McCrady,

Contrada, & Labouvie, 1997). Also, depressive symptoms are strongly associated with

marital conflict (Beach, Fincham, & Katz, 1998). Besides the consequences of marital con-

flict to the physical and mental health of each element of the couple, it also has important

social and labor consequences for those directly involved in the conflict and other family

members, particularly children (Cummings & Davies, 2002). This motivated the present

study, whose main goal is to examine the physiological synchrony in couples du ring mari-

tal interactions of negative and positive valence.

Several terms have been used to refer to the processes of physiological or motor coordi-

nation between the members of interacting dyads (e.g., synchrony, linkage, coregulation,

contagion, attunement, entrainment, coupling). The terminology for synchronization phe-

nomena in the field of social science is still unsystematic. As pointed out by Emily Butler

(2011), one central confusion in the literature derives from the fact that different terms

used in the field to refer to interpersonal coordination are at different levels of abstraction

(terms derived from general systems theory, constructs derived from social-psychological

theory, pragmatic descriptors, and statistical model parameters). Butler (2011) suggested

the term coupling—coupling generates different kinds of observable synchronization.

Here, we will be using the term interpersonal synchrony to denote the temporally

coordinated dynamics of the movements or other nonverbal indicators of two interacting

individuals.

Human and animal research suggests that synchrony between two conspecifics is an

inherent element of social bonding and attachment (Coan, 2008; Coan, Schaefer, & David-

son, 2006; Feldman, 2006; Guastello, Pincus, & Gunderson, 2006; Sbarra & Hazan, 2008).

As pointed out by Ramseyer (2011), interpersonal synchrony has several social advantages

by enhancing our ability to perceive other people’s feelings on a moment-by-moment basis,

promoting emotional coordination (Carr et al., 2003; cited in Ramseyer, 2011). Behavioral

synchrony can be achieved through a reciprocal process, in which individuals within a

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