Symposium 6th World Congress on Positive Psychology 2019

Moments Of Shared Positive Affective Experience During Conflict Linked To Marital Satisfaction (#304)

Casey L Brown 1 , Kuan-Hua Chen 1 , Marcela Otero 1 , Jenna L Wells 1 , Dyan E Connelly 1 , Robert W Levenson 1 , Barbara L Fredrickson 2
  1. University of California, Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States
  2. University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, NC, United States

Positive emotions can emanate and resonate across partners during interpersonal interactions, creating moments in which interactants are connected via shared positive affect. Moments of shared positive affect have been theorized to increase perceive drelational resources such as rapport and trust, and may be particularly beneficial during conflict when negative emotions are high. We examined whether more frequent moments of shared positive affective experience during conflict relate to higher relationship satisfaction in long-term married couples. Couples discussed a conflict in their relationship, and then later watched a recording of their conversation while continuously rating the valence of their emotional experience during the conversation using a rating dial. Additionally, couples’ specific emotional behaviors were coded second-by-second. Moments of shared positive affect were defined as seconds in which both partners reported experiencing positive affect, and neither partner was behaviorally coded as displaying negative emotion. Results suggest husbands and wives who experience more frequent moments of shared positive affect have greater marital satisfaction, even after accounting for their average level of affect, moments of unshared positive and negative affect, and shared negative affect. Shared positive affect may be an integral component of high quality relationships.