“We're having a good (or bad) day”: Differences in emotional synchrony in married couples in the United States and India

Abstract

Partners in close relationships often experience similar day-to-day emotions. However, little is known about whether emotional synchrony between partners is similar across marriages in different cultural contexts. We assess differences in levels of synchrony using daily diaries from 35 couples from the United States and 89 couples from India (41 in love marriages, 48 in arranged marriages). Results show group differences in levels of synchrony, with American couples showing greater synchrony than Indian couples. Somewhat surprisingly, synchrony of negative partner-induced emotions was associated with greater marital satisfaction across marriage types, while for Indian-love couples synchrony of positive partner-induced emotions was associated with decreased satisfaction. Finally, synchrony of both positive and negative partner-induced emotions was associated with higher closeness for Indian-love couples, but reduced closeness for American couples. These findings suggest synchrony may not have the same implications for couples' emotional functioning across marriage types.