Sense‐making activities and interpersonal conflict: Communicative cures for the mulling blues

Toward a Further Understanding of Students' Emotional Responses to Classroom Injustice

“…Finally, recall that perceiving relational transgressions as severe was associated with higher levels of rumination (Cloven & Roloff, 1991;Merolla, 2008), which has been associated with the physiological stress indicator of cortisol (McCullough et al, 2007). It is likely, then, that student perceptions of classroom unfairness severity will be positively associated with stress, which is expected to be associated with emotional reactions.…”

“…Moreover, individuals who perceive transgressions to be severe report higher levels of rumination (Cloven & Roloff, 1991;Merolla, 2008). This is problematic given that rumination is related to the physiological stress indicator of cortisol (McCullough, Osulak, Brandon, & Akers, 2007).…”

The Communicative and Physiological Manifestations of Relational Turbulence During the Empty-Nest Phase of Marital Relationships

“…Given the chronic nature of these conflicts, individuals who are continually critical and demanding about the topic may be particularly frustrated by the continued lack of action or responsiveness on the part of their spouse (e.g., Caughlin & Vangelisti, 1999). Moreover, they may ruminate beyond the end of the conflict about their partner's failure to help resolve the conflict (e.g., Cloven & Roloff, 1991). In this case, the combination of a chronic stressor in the relationship and increased rumination sparked by criticism and demands may have provided a delayed stress reaction.…”

“…On one hand, topic avoidance, indirectness, and withdrawal may slow the decrease of cortisol because the failure to enact a resolution can contribute to increased rumination about irritations, which keeps the conflict salient for a longer period of time (Cloven & Roloff, 1991). On the other hand, criticism and demandingness should also prolong the decrease of cortisol because these conflict behaviors are likely to generate arousal, which may be slow to decay as the spouse reflects on the conflict interaction (Verhofstadt, Buysse, de Clercq, & Goodwin, 2005).…”

“…Research on the demand/withdraw pattern shows that individuals who withdraw from their partner's confrontations experience increased stress (Malis & Roloff, 2006a). Similarly, topic avoidance and indirectness are likely to contribute to increased stress because individuals who engage in these behaviors fail to voice their complaints and are prone to rumination about the event (e.g., Cloven & Roloff, 1991). Additionally, individuals who avoid conflict because they are resigned to the unresolvable nature of the conflict tend to experience more stress (Malis & Roloff, 2006b).…”