Communication is important in any relationship. Through communication, couples can know what the other is feeling. However, it is not often that feelings are conveyed by people to each other. Hidden emotions might be missed by couples, as a study shows.
Issues come up in relationships every now and then. Even in stable relationships, issues will come up. A study finds that partners might be missing on emotional cues coming from the other side, since some have become adept in hiding them.
The study has been made by Lameese Eldesouky, lead author as well as doctoral student of Psychological and Brain Sciences at Washington University. The study looks at two ways couples might be hiding emotions. One way is expressive suppression, and the other is through cognitive reappraisal.
Expressive suppression is when a person hides emotion through a calm exterior. Cognitive reappraisal is when someone tries to see a positive outcome in a negative situation. The study has found that couples are less likely to detect cognitive reappraisal than expressive suppression. Women also tend to see their partners in a more positive way.
The study is also authored by Tammy English, who is an assistant professor of Psychology at Washington University. Also authoring the study is James Gross, a professor of Psychology from Stanford University. The study has looked into 120 heterosexual couples from colleges in Northern California, according to The Source.
The participants in the study are from 18 to 25 years of age. They have also been part of a much larger study about emotion in closed relationships, as Science Daily reports. The couples in the study have been together for at least six months.
A previous study has also been made by English and Gross. In that study, it has been found that men would use expressive suppression more than women. The use of expressive suppression in the long term might cause more issues in a relationship, as that study has found out.
Communicating feelings can help in any relationship. However, there are times when partners might find it hard to say what they feel in a direct way. Hidden emotions might be missed by couples, as a study finds. A study also finds that parental help is needed by kids online.
