Communication Breakdown: Differing Relationship Wellbeing Effects of Positive and Negative Spin in Communication Behaviour

<p>Romantic couples must regularly navigate interactions to maintain satisfying relationships, but it is unclear how people’s variability in communication behaviour is linked to relationship wellbeing. Varying communication behaviours may display responsiveness to a partner’s needs by adjusting behaviour appropriately. Or else, inconsistent behaviour may undermine partner trust by fuelling uncertainties about commitment. Across two studies, we investigated how a person’s variability of communication behaviour was associated with their own wellbeing and their partner’s wellbeing. Specifically, we assessed spin, a measure of how often a person switches between communication behaviours. We predicted that switching between positive behaviours would be linked with higher relationship wellbeing but, conversely, switching between negative communication behaviours would be linked with lower wellbeing. We assessed spin in positive and negative forms of relationship behaviour over three weeks (Study 1; 78 couples) and over a single interaction (Study 2; 112 couples). Effects for spin in positivity emerged only in Study 1. For women, switching daily positive behaviour over three weeks was associated with higher partner relationship wellbeing but unexpectedly lower wellbeing for women (controlling for mean-level positivity). This suggests that, for women, being responsive to partners in diverse ways is beneficial for the partner but comes at a personal cost. Effects for spin in negativity emerged in both studies. Switching negative behaviour was linked with lower partner wellbeing in both studies, indicating that use of different negative behaviours is more dysfunctional than the sum of individual relationship behaviours. Across both studies, additional tests illustrated that these effects were independent and not due to variability in the magnitude of behaviours. Our findings show variable behaviour may benefit partner wellbeing when behaviour is positive, but inconsistent negativity interrupts intimacy processes to undermine wellbeing. Our research highlights the importance of considering behavioural variability when studying relationship maintenance processes over time.</p>

Communication Breakdown: Differing Relationship Wellbeing Effects of Positive and Negative Spin in Communication Behaviour

<p>Romantic couples must regularly navigate interactions to maintain satisfying relationships, but it is unclear how people’s variability in communication behaviour is linked to relationship wellbeing. Varying communication behaviours may display responsiveness to a partner’s needs by adjusting behaviour appropriately. Or else, inconsistent behaviour may undermine partner trust by fuelling uncertainties about commitment. Across two studies, we investigated how a person’s variability of communication behaviour was associated with their own wellbeing and their partner’s wellbeing. Specifically, we assessed spin, a measure of how often a person switches between communication behaviours. We predicted that switching between positive behaviours would be linked with higher relationship wellbeing but, conversely, switching between negative communication behaviours would be linked with lower wellbeing. We assessed spin in positive and negative forms of relationship behaviour over three weeks (Study 1; 78 couples) and over a single interaction (Study 2; 112 couples). Effects for spin in positivity emerged only in Study 1. For women, switching daily positive behaviour over three weeks was associated with higher partner relationship wellbeing but unexpectedly lower wellbeing for women (controlling for mean-level positivity). This suggests that, for women, being responsive to partners in diverse ways is beneficial for the partner but comes at a personal cost. Effects for spin in negativity emerged in both studies. Switching negative behaviour was linked with lower partner wellbeing in both studies, indicating that use of different negative behaviours is more dysfunctional than the sum of individual relationship behaviours. Across both studies, additional tests illustrated that these effects were independent and not due to variability in the magnitude of behaviours. Our findings show variable behaviour may benefit partner wellbeing when behaviour is positive, but inconsistent negativity interrupts intimacy processes to undermine wellbeing. Our research highlights the importance of considering behavioural variability when studying relationship maintenance processes over time.</p>

Couples’ Communication Behaviour and the Gender Division of Family Work Across the Transition to Parenthood

This study investigates the conceptual argument that constructive and explicit couple communication may reduce gender inequalities in couples’ division of family work. We focus on the transition to parenthood which for most couples in Germany results in a shift towards a more traditional division of labour. Using 314 first-time parents from the German Family Panel, we apply growth curve models to assess whether partners’ prenatal characteristics explain the division of housework and childcare around the time of childbirth and in the following years. After controlling for gender ideologies and economic resources, male partners’ frequency of positive communication is associated with greater father involvement in housework and childcare from the start. However, neither men’s nor women’s communication behaviours dampen the shift towards a more traditional division of housework and childcare in the first years after childbirth. The frequency of negative communication does not correlate with the division of family work.

Ontogeny of scent marking behaviours in an apex carnivore

Puma (Puma concolor) communication with conspecifics is via indirect scent marking behaviours that are important for individuals to advertise their territory and reproductive status, but little is known about how the behaviours develop with age. To examine the development of scent marking behaviours, we monitored the behaviours of adult pumas and dependent kittens. Based on video recordings, we found that the frequency of puma communication behaviours significantly changed over time. Kittens exhibited olfactory investigation more frequently as they aged, but kittens generally did not exhibit scent marking behaviours. Kittens travel with their mothers until they disperse, so there is no need to establish territories or advertise availability to mate, but kittens are at risk of injury or mortality from other pumas. It is possible that there is no functional need for dependent kittens to scent mark until they mature, but there is a need for frequent use of investigative behaviours.

Sport in Society as a Binder in Social Communication of Human's Emotions

Society is the ensemble/the whole of the relations with the others, it is their form based on the natural needs (objective): the perpetuation of the species, the playful expression, the language, the thinking, the communication, the inter-subjectivity report (based on good morals, social obligations, education, the functioning of the state, the laws, rules and group conventions (in the case of sport, the constraints imposed, exceeding any individual will and transforming the social fact into an objective fact). In the evolution of psychology of human development, sport contributes to the improvement of the body in relation to the environment; of the cognitive, moral development of language, that of complex skills, sensory integrations, games with body schematics, which mobilize self-awareness and (re)structure through learning and experience. Thus, social and communication behaviours generate a mutually advantageous social repertoire.

Evaluating a training intervention for improving alignment between emergency medical telephone operators and callers: a pilot study of communication behaviours

Background Calls to emergency medical lines are an essential component in the chain of survival. Operators make critical decisions based on information they elicit from callers. Although smooth cooperation is necessary, the field lacks evidence-based guidelines for how to achieve it while adhering to strict parameters of index-driven questioning. We aimed to evaluate the effect of a training intervention for emergency medical operators at a call centre in Tønsberg, Norway. The course was designed to enhance operators’ communication skills for smoothing cooperation with callers. Methods Calls were analyzed using inductively developed coding based on the course rationale and content. To evaluate whether the course generated consolidated behavioral change in everyday practice, the independent analyst evaluated 32 calls, selected randomly from eight operators, two calls before and two after course completion. To measure whether skill attainment delayed decision making, we compared the time to the first decision logged by intervention operators to eight control operators. Analysis included 3034 calls: 1375 to intervention operators (T1 = 815; T2 = 560) and 1659 to control operators (T1 = 683; T2 = 976). Results Operators demonstrated improved behaviours on how they greeted the caller (p < .001), acknowledged the caller (p < .001), and displayed empathy (p = 0.015). No change was found in the use of open-ended questions and agreeing with the caller. Contrary to expectations, operators who took the course logged first decisions more quickly than the control group (p < .001). Conclusions This pilot study demonstrated that the training intervention generated behavioural change in these operators, providing justification for scaling up the intervention.

"Is There Really No Time To Be Nice?”: A Micro-Level Analysis Of Antecedents To Incivility

Defined as a type of mistreatment of low intensity and ambiguous intent to harm, incivility is a persistent and troubling workplace phenomenon. Rooted in the self-determination theory, the impact of time pressure on workplace incivility was considered. Using an experimental design, 62 participants acted as managers in mock performance appraisals; half in each time condition (‘time pressure’ and ‘no time pressure’). Sessions were video recorded and two third-party raters, blind to the manipulation, coded the verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours of the managers and employees. Results showed that time pressure had a non-significant impact on manager incivility, and the number and type of questions the manager asked. However, significant results supported the idea that incivility breeds incivility. Supplemental analyses demonstrated that while self-reported incivility was unrelated to either third party or employee reports of manager incivility, a significant relationship existed between third-party and employee reports of manager incivility. Despite insignificant findings regarding time pressure as an antecedent of incivility, further exploration is encouraged.

"Is There Really No Time To Be Nice?”: A Micro-Level Analysis Of Antecedents To Incivility

Defined as a type of mistreatment of low intensity and ambiguous intent to harm, incivility is a persistent and troubling workplace phenomenon. Rooted in the self-determination theory, the impact of time pressure on workplace incivility was considered. Using an experimental design, 62 participants acted as managers in mock performance appraisals; half in each time condition (‘time pressure’ and ‘no time pressure’). Sessions were video recorded and two third-party raters, blind to the manipulation, coded the verbal and non-verbal communication behaviours of the managers and employees. Results showed that time pressure had a non-significant impact on manager incivility, and the number and type of questions the manager asked. However, significant results supported the idea that incivility breeds incivility. Supplemental analyses demonstrated that while self-reported incivility was unrelated to either third party or employee reports of manager incivility, a significant relationship existed between third-party and employee reports of manager incivility. Despite insignificant findings regarding time pressure as an antecedent of incivility, further exploration is encouraged.