Emotional coregulation in close relationships
Abstract
Coregulation refers to the process by which relationship partners form a dyadic emotional system involving an oscillating pattern of affective arousal and dampening that dynamically maintains an optimal emotional state. Coregulation may represent an important form of interpersonal emotion regulation, but confusion exists in the literature due to a lack of precision in the usage of the term. We propose an operational definition for coregulation as a bidirectional linkage of oscillating emotional channels between partners, which contributes to emotional stability for both partners. We propose several distinctions and raise unanswered questions that will need to be addressed in order to understand the relevance of coregulation for well-being in adulthood.
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Changes in one partner's physiology may lead to increases or decreases in the other's physiology to promote regulation and stability or result in dysregulation.
“Changes in one partner's physiology may lead to increases or decreases in the other's physiology to promote regulation and stability or result in dysregulation (Butler and Randall, 2013;Helm et al., 2014).”
From Physiological feelings (2019) · cites this paper as Butler and Randall, 2013
The autonomic nervous system may provide a platform for dyadic influence on emotion.
“Given that the ANS is related to emotional expression and regulation and is implicated in social interaction, it may provide a platform for dyadic influence on emotion (Butler and Randall, 2013;Porges, 2009).”
From Physiological feelings (2019) · cites this paper as Butler and Randall, 2013
There is growing interest in interpersonal synchrony in physiological responses and neurological responses.
“However, there is growing interest in interpersonal synchrony in physiological responses (Butler and Randall, 2013), and neurological responses (Hari et al., 2015).”
From Synchrony in Psychotherapy: A Review and an Integrative Framework for the Therapeutic Alliance (2016) · cites this paper as Butler and Randall, 2013
People in close relationships are usually attuned to their partner's emotions, leading to synchronization of emotional responses between relationship partners, or 'co-regulation'.
“People in close relationships are usually attuned to their partner’s emotions, leading to synchronization of emotional responses between relationship partners, or ‘co-regulation’ (Butler and Randall, 2013).”
From Synchrony in Psychotherapy: A Review and an Integrative Framework for the Therapeutic Alliance (2016) · cites this paper as Butler and Randall, 2013
AI agents can engage in affective processes traditionally reserved for human relationships.
“This supports the idea that AI agents can engage in affective processes traditionally reserved for human relationships, extending prior work that highlights their potential to support users’ emotional well-being [2, 13, 22, 50].”
From Emotional Coregulation in Close Relationships with AI Agents: A Survey of ChatGPT and Replika Users (2025) · cites this paper as [13]
Theories of emotional coregulation describe how people help one another maintain emotional balance through emotional contagion and counter-regulation.
“Theories of emotional coregulation in psychology describe how people help one another maintain emotional balance through mutual processes such as emotional contagion (sharing emotions) and counter-regulation (responding in a calming way to intense emotions), unfolding through subtle synchrony in movement, speech and physiological signals [2, 13, 21, 22, 26, 50].”
From Emotional Coregulation in Close Relationships with AI Agents: A Survey of ChatGPT and Replika Users (2025) · cites this paper as [13]
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- Authors
- Butler, E. A., & Randall, A. K.
- Affiliations
- University of Arizona (US)
- Venue
- Emotion Review
- Publisher
- SAGE Publications
- Published
- 2012-11-06
- Volume
- 5
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 202-210
- ISSN
- 1754-0739 (ISSN-L)
- 1754-0747
- OpenAlex
- W2158973647
- Cited by
- 476
- References
- 19
- Citations by year
- 2026: 45 · 2025: 52 · 2024: 43 · 2023: 45 · 2022: 36 · 2021: 50 · 2020: 42 · 2019: 47 · 2018: 34 · 2017: 26 · 2016: 23 · 2015: 17 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 7 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 14.97
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
- Locations
- Emotion Review (publishedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Attachment and Relationship Dynamics
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Child and Adolescent Psychosocial and Emotional Development
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Experimental and Cognitive Psychology › Mental Health Research Topics
- Keywords
- interpersonal emotion regulation, close relationships, emotional stability, operational definitions, adult well-being
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