Married Couples
Robert Levenson, Ph.D., researches human psychophysiology. Levenson uses longitudinal studies of married couples' physiological responses. He measures how empathy requires a calm and receptive emotional environment for the couple to be in physiological sync. When an emotional hijacking is taking place (anger or argument) empathy declines and the cognitions of the spouse are blocked.
Read more about this topic: Emotional Contagion
Famous quotes containing the words married and/or couples:
“I come from a long line of male chauvinists in a very traditional family. To rebel against my background, I didn’t shoot dope—I married a working woman.”
—Joe Bologna (20th century)
“Watching Italian opera, all those male sopranos screeching, stupid fat couples rolling their eyes about. That’s not love, it’s just rubbish.”
—Peter Shaffer (b. 1926)