A trouble shared is a trouble halved: Age differences in emotional experience and expression during couples’ conversations.

Abstract

Although emotional experience and expression are strongly tied to social contexts, most age-comparative studies have used an individualistic approach. The few dyadic laboratory studies that exist have focused on discussions about conflicts and have suggested that older couples experience and express less negative emotion than younger couples. However, recent studies have emphasized the context dependency of age differences in emotional reactivity. More concretely, in situations such as conversations in which the experience and expression of negative emotion might be beneficial for the relationship because it can initiate support and indicate togetherness, older adults should experience and express similar or even higher levels of negative emotion than younger couples. To test this hypothesis, 37 younger (Mage = 24.33) and 41 older couples (Mage = 70.27) were instructed to talk about an ongoing problem experienced by one member of the couple. The main dependent variables were the intensity of negative emotion as manifested in subjective feelings as well as facial and verbal expressions during the conversation. Additionally, we examined age differences in couples’ emphasis on togetherness. In contrast to past work but consistent with our prediction, there were not many age differences in both partners’ emotional experience and expression. Moreover, in line with previous studies, older couples perceived and expressed more togetherness during the conversation than younger couples. These findings suggest that age differences in negative emotion may be context dependent and less evident if negative emotion does not harm the relationship and serves potentially adaptive functions.

I Feel You, We Can Do This

“…Our results add to existing research suggesting that merely feeling similarly negative, or generally expressing negative emotions, need not be detrimental to the couple (see Gottman, Coan, Carrere, & Swanson, 1998;Lwi, Haase, Shiota, Newton, & Levenson, 2019;Rohr, Nestler, & Kunzmann, 2019) but instead can indicate togetherness and initiate coordinated action (see Rohr et al, 2019) as long as anger (or another negative emotion, such as contempt) is not directed at the partner, which instead may set off escalating conflict dynamics (see Gottman et al, 1998). Another boundary condition for (shared) negative emotions may be their intensitythe emotions assessed here are those of older couples experiencing what they described as a typical week of their everyday life and thus likely fluctuate rather subtly on rather low levels of intensity.…”

Harmful Stress-Related Couple Processes During the COVID-19 Pandemic and Lockdown: A Longitudinal Dyadic Perspective

“…Third, the lockdown may have led the partners to share and to regulate more their personal emotions within the couple rather than with friends or large family. Thus, couple’s sharing and regulation of emotions could initiate support and contribute to higher togetherness ( Rohr et al, 2019 ). Finally, Williamson (2020) indicated that the experience of the early weeks of the pandemic led partners to become more forgiving and less blaming of their partner’s negative behaviors by attributing them less to their partner’s internal characteristics and more to the stressful pandemic-related context.…”

How Do We Live Together During a Lockdown in Belgium? Study of Couple and Parental Satisfaction

“…First, the lockdown may have led the partners to share and to regulate more their personal emotions within the couple rather than friends or large family. Thus, couple’s sharing and regulation of emotions could initiate support and contribute to higher togetherness (Rohr et al, 2019 ). Second, there is evidence that couples’ shared time is important for both couple quality (e.g.…”