Emotional Expression: Socially Anxious Individuals and Their Partners

Individuals who are socially anxious have obstacles to overcome and those obstacles may affect how they communicate in their romantic relationship. The partners of these socially anxious individuals may also be cautious in what and how they communicate. This research examined socially anxious people and their partners to understand their willingness to communicate both positive and negative concerns to one another, as well as their tendency to use inauthentic displays of emotions to influence one another. We predict that socially anxious people hold back negative and positive concerns, and their partner will hold back negative concerns and will be more likely to express positive ones. We also predict that anxious individuals and their partner will show inauthentic displays of emotion more frequently. This study uses data from couples who were cohabiting with their romantic partner (166 couples) and live in the United States. The participants were either recruited from online ads or from Kent State University’s staff and employee newsletter. The requirements to participate were that both partners were willing to participate, be at least 18 years of age, and spoke English fluently. The mean was 32.2 years of age and 58% of couples did not have children. The average length of the relationships was 7.75 years and the average time cohabiting was 5.5 years. Analyses are currently being conducted on the data. The results from the analysis will be presented, and the implications will be discussed.