‘Youth’s Conflict Resolution Strategies in their Dating Relationships’

Abstract

Youth can experience conflicts with their dating partner and then need strategies to solve such conflicts. Research is scarce regarding positive conflict resolution strategies in a dating context. Considering research on various interpersonal relationships (e.g. friendships, dating, marriage), the present study examined how dimensions of empathy, verbal skills and impulsivity can contribute to the use of positive conflict resolution strategies in dating relationships. The sample is made up of 813 youth attending secondary schools or a regional college (71.7% female, mean age = 18.9, age range 14.2-24.9). They completed self-administered questionnaires investigating positive conflict resolution strategies, as well as dimensions of empathy (i.e., fantasy, perspective-taking, empathic concern, and personal distress), verbal skills (similarities and figurative language) and impulsivity (positive urgency, negative urgency, lack of premeditation, lack of perseverance, and sensation seeking). The results reveal sex differences and developmental improvements on several factors. The findings showed that specific dimensions of empathy and verbal skills foster the use of positive conflict resolution strategies whereas specific dimensions of impulsivity and one dimension of empathy hamper it. Both sexes shared a common correlate: the propensity toward perspective-taking fostered the use of positive conflict resolution strategies. In addition to highlighting correlates of positive conflict resolution strategies in dating relationships, this study can contribute to programs dedicated to the promotion of healthy dating relationships among adolescents and emerging adults.

Social cognition and sex: Are men and women really different?

“…Indeed, statistically significant differences between female and male were found on the 'Fantasy' and 'Personal Distress' subscales scores of the IRI, with women reporting higher scores than men. These results are in line with previous studies reporting in women greater abilities to understand and share others' feelings compared to men (Courtain & Glowacz, 2019;Mestre et al 2009;Worly et al, 2019). Particularly, Courtain and Glowacz (2019) assessed empathic dimensions in relation to positive conflict resolution strategies in a large group of young adults.…”

“…From an evolutionary point of view the evolution of sex differences in social cognition have been linked to differential natural selection and sexual selection pressures acting on the two sexes (e.g., Geary, 2002;Kenrick, 1995) but the actual presence and nature of sex differences in social cognition is still discussed. The available evidence suggests a female advantage in the recognition of other people's emotions and mental states, and in the ability to understand and share others' feelings (Campbell et al, 2002;Courtain & Glowacz, 2019;McClure, 2000;Mestre, Samper, Frías, & Tur, 2009;Thayer & Johnsen, 2000). Indeed, previous studies have highlighted that women are more accurate than men in recognising facial expressions, particularly negative emotions, such as fear and sadness (Campbell et al, 2002;Mandal & Palchoudhury, 1985;Montagne, Kessels, Frigerio, de Haan, & Perrett, 2015;Whittle, Yücel, Yap, & Allen, 2011).…”

“…Indeed, previous studies have highlighted that women are more accurate than men in recognising facial expressions, particularly negative emotions, such as fear and sadness (Campbell et al, 2002;Mandal & Palchoudhury, 1985;Montagne, Kessels, Frigerio, de Haan, & Perrett, 2015;Whittle, Yücel, Yap, & Allen, 2011). Similarly, women compared to men seem to be more accurate in the representation of others' mental states, with better performance especially on ToM tasks involving an affective component (Baron-Cohen, 2003;Carroll & Chiew, 2006;Krach et al, 2009;Xia Wu, & Su, 2012), and appear to show a higher tendency to empathy (Courtain & Glowacz, 2019;Mestre et al 2009).…”

Conflicts Among Students: The Formation of Tolerant Relations

“…Conflict is bad for those who don't know how to behave in conflict. Conflict can be useful in the hands of trained people (Kodzhaspirova & Kodzhaspirov, 2005;Courtain & Glowacz, 2019). Many social conflicts are due to the useful goals of a group or groups of interested people.…”

Mindfulness and intimate relationship satisfaction in daily life: The role of empathy

“…Widely studied in the context of intimate relationships (Courtain & Glowacz, 2018), “empathy” describes individuals' ability to actively understand the feelings of their partners that may help them anticipate and thereby potentially avoid conflict (Ulloa et al, 2017). A positive relationship between empathy and IRS has been well established in the academic literature (Sened et al, 2017; Ulloa et al, 2017).…”