Couples in Love: Predictors of Heart Rate

Counselors may be unaware of the physiological underpinnings of couple relationships. Understanding emotions as physiological responses resulting from autonomic arousal, we measured couples' heart rate across a series of typical conversations. Forty-nine heterosexual and one lesbian couple completed measures of emotional reactivity and dyadic adjustment. We used pulse oximetry to record individual heart rate through three 5-min conversations. Using multilevel dyadic growth models, we found emotional arousal and reactivity-predicted heart rate among women, and greater relationship length predicted heart rate among men. We additionally found couples synchronous with respect to relationship satisfaction and emotional reactivity but not to physiological responsivity. This study contributes to counselors' understanding of women's physiological reactivity, male responses in longer relationships, and how to support couples when there is potential for relationship conflict.