Effects of empathy and conflict resolution strategies on psychophysiological arousal and satisfaction in romantic relationships

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