Interpersonal Extension of Affect Theory
Affect theory has been incorporated into couples therapy Two characteristics of affects have powerful implications for intimate relationships:
a). According to Tomkins, a central characteristic of affects is affective resonance, which refers to a person's tendency to resonate and experience the same affect in response to viewing a display of that affect by another person. Affective resonance is considered to be the original basis for all human communication (before there were words, there was a smile and a nod).
b). Also according to Tomkins, affects provide a sense of urgency to the less powerful drives. Thus, affects are powerful sources of motivation. In Tomkins' words, affects make good things better and bad things worse.
This nonverbal mode of conveying feelings and influence is held to play a central role in intimate relationships. The Emotional Safety model of couples therapy seeks to identify the affective messages that occur within the couple's emotional relationship (the partners' feelings about themselves, each other and their relationship), most importantly, messages regarding (a) the security of the attachment and (b) how each individual is valued.
Read more about this topic: Affect Theory
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