Interpersonal Affect Dynamics: It Takes Two (and Time) to Tango

TLDR

Emotions are dynamic, interpersonal, learned from others, and can be caught and escalated, creating complex patterns of affective interaction over time. The review aims to synthesize theory, empirical evidence, and future research challenges concerning interpersonal affective dynamics. It focuses on three processes: convergence of partners’ responses to the external world, mutual emotional reactivity, and interpersonal emotion regulation.

Abstract

Everything is constantly changing. Our emotions are one of the primary ways we track, evaluate, organize, and motivate responsive action to those changes. Furthermore, emotions are inherently interpersonal. We learn what to feel from others, especially when we are children. We “catch” other people’s emotions just by being around them. We get caught in escalating response–counterresponse emotional sequences. This all takes place in time, generating complex patterns of interpersonal emotional dynamics. This review summarizes theory, empirical findings, and key challenges for future research regarding three processes that contribute to interpersonal affective dynamics: (a) Convergence of social partners’ emotional responses to the external world, (b) emotional reactivity of social partners to each other, and (c) interpersonal emotion regulation.