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Cited by 74Attachment and Relationship DynamicsAction Observation and SynchronizationHeart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control

Physiological linkage during shared positive and shared negative emotion

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Chen, Kuan-Hua, Brown, Casey L., Wells, Jenna L., Rothwell, Emily S., Otero, Marcela C., Levenson, Robert W., Fredrickson, Barbara L.·2021·Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
DOI 10.1037/pspi0000337PMC PMC8261768
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Abstract

Physiological linkage refers to the degree to which peoples' physiological responses change in coordinated ways. Here, we examine whether and how physiological linkage relates to incidents of shared emotion, distinguished by valence. Past research has used an "overall average" approach and characterized how physiological linkage over relatively long time periods (e.g., 10-15 min) reflects psychological and social processes (e.g., marital satisfaction, empathy). Here, we used a "momentary" approach and characterized whether physiological linkage over relatively short time periods (i.e., 15 s) reflects shared positive emotion, shared negative emotion, or both, and whether linkage during shared emotions relates to relational functioning. Married couples (156 dyads) had a 15-min conflict conversation in the laboratory. Using behavioral coding, each second of conversation was classified into 1 of 4 emotion categories: shared positive emotion, shared negative emotion, shared neutral emotion, or unshared emotion. Using a composite of 3 peripheral physiological measures (i.e., heart rate, skin conductance, finger pulse amplitude), we computed momentary in-phase and antiphase linkage to represent coordinated changes in the same or opposite direction, respectively. We found that shared positive emotion was associated with higher in-phase and lower antiphase linkage, relative to the other 3 emotion categories. Greater in-phase physiological linkage during shared positive emotion was also consistently associated with higher-quality interactions and relationships, both concurrently and longitudinally (i.e., 5 to 6 years later). These findings advance our understanding of the nature of physiological linkage, the emotional conditions under which it occurs, and its possible associations with relational functioning. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2021 APA, all rights reserved).

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  • Couples engaged in verbal conflict resolution or emotional disclosure showed autonomic and hormonal attunement, including synchrony in HR, EDA, cortisol, and alpha-amylase.

    “Couples engaged in verbal conflict resolution or emotional disclosure showed autonomic and hormonal attunement, including synchrony in HR, EDA, cortisol, and alpha-amylase (40, 41, 71).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [41]

    The Method (Procedure; Apparatus) describes couples discussing an area of continuing disagreement while cardiac interbeat interval and skin conductance were recorded. The Discussion (Methodological implications) reports greater in-phase physiological linkage during shared positive emotion. The paper does not report cortisol or alpha-amylase synchrony, and its conflict discussion was not specifically described as conflict resolution or emotional disclosure. (LLM, conf=0.88)

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  • Several studies linked higher attunement to emotional or relational outcomes, including increased marital satisfaction.

    “Several studies linked higher attunement to emotional or relational outcomes, including increased marital satisfaction (41), while others identified potential physiological costs, such as elevated inflammatory markers following high HRV synchrony during conflict (37).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [41]

  • Shared positive emotions were associated with greater physiological attunement, higher-quality marital interactions, and greater satisfaction.

    “Shared positive emotions were associated with greater physiological attunement, higher-quality marital interactions, and greater satisfaction (41).”

    From Physiological attunement and flourishing: understanding the influence of relationships on health (2025) · cites this paper as [41]

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Research works printed but not linked: 13

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Authors
Chen, K.-H., Brown, C. L., Wells, J. L., Rothwell, E. S., Otero, M. C., Levenson, R. W., & Fredrickson, B. L.
Affiliations
  • University of California, Berkeley (US)
  • University of California, Davis (US)
  • VA Palo Alto Health Care System (US)
  • University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (US)
ORCID
Venue
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Publisher
American Psychological Association (APA)
Published
2021-11
Volume
121
Issue
5
Pages
1029-1056
ISSN
  • 0022-3514 (ISSN-L)
  • 1939-1315
DOI
10.1037/pspi0000337
PMC
PMC8261768
OpenAlex
W3084297763
Cited by
72
References
67
Citations by year
2026: 8 · 2025: 18 · 2024: 14 · 2023: 14 · 2022: 10 · 2021: 6 · 2020: 2
FWCI
8.75
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (publishedVersion, other-oa)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • eScholarship (California Digital Library) (submittedVersion)
Funders
National Institute on Aging (R37-AG017766, K99-AG059947)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Action Observation and Synchronization
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Cardiology and Cardiovascular Medicine › Heart Rate Variability and Autonomic Control
Keywords
shared emotions, positive emotions, negative emotions, married couples, marital conflict, interpersonal synchrony, heart rate, skin conductance, relationship quality, emotional valence
MeSH terms
Communication, Emotions, Empathy, Humans, Marriage, Spouses

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