The Effect of Co-Verbal Remote Touch on Electrodermal Activity and Emotional Response in Dyadic Discourse

This article explores the affective impact of remote touch when used in conjunction with video telecon. Committed couples were recruited to engage in semi-structured discussions after they watched a video clip that contained emotionally charged moments. They used paired touch input and output devices to send upper-arm squeezes to each other in real-time. Users were not told how to use the devices and were free to define the purpose of their use. We examined how remote touch was used and its impact on skin conductance and affective response. We observed 65 different touch intents, which were classified into broader categories. We employed a series of analyses within a framework of behavioral and experiential timescales. Our findings revealed that remote touches created a change in the overall psychological affective experience and skin conductance response. Only remote touches that were judged to be affective elicited significant changes in EDA measurements. Our study demonstrates the affective power of remote touch in video telecommunication, and that off-the-shelf wearable EDA sensing devices can detect such affective impacts. Our findings pave the way for new species of technologies with real-time feedback support for a range of communicative and special needs such as isolation, stress, and anxiety.

The Levels of Perceived Emotional Abuse among Pakistani Husbands and Wives

Emotional abuse in marital or committed couples has been reported differently in literature. There has been a traditional theme that husbands are significantly more emotionally abusive toward their wives. This trend, however, has been changing due to the social participation and educational uplift of women. The current study intended to explore the prevalence and levels of emotional abuse among husbands and wives. The study involved 177 husbands and 139 wives and administered the Multidimensional Measure of Emotional Abuse to assess the levels of emotional abuse among the respondents. The findings revealed that husbands felt significantly more emotional abuse from wives.

Living Apart Together as a “Family Form” Among Persons of Retirement Age: The Appropriate Family Response

52 Family Law Quarterly 1 (2018).This article discusses the phenomenon of “living apart together,” or LAT, among persons of retirement age. LATs are committed couples who maintain separate residences. The article first explores the literature on sexuality and dating among older persons and then discusses social science research done, primarily outside of the U.S., about LAT among persons in older age groups. It then describes what was learned from the author’s own interviews of LATs over the age of 65 about their reasons for living apart, their manner of life, economic arrangements, and mutual caregiving. Based on this research, it reaches a number of conclusions about what the appropriate legal treatment of these couples should be.