New research published in the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science has shown that more frequent positive relationship experiences and less frequent negative relationship experiences are linked to lower stress and better physiological health.
The study included over 4,000 participants. During the three-week study period, participants completed daily check-ins to assess their blood pressure, heart rate, coping, and stress. In psychology, coping refers to the thoughts and behaviors used to manage stressful situations. Coping and stress were measured using a daily questionnaire about recent stressful events and the participants’ perceptions of whether they were coping well. Additionally, every three days, each participant shared reflections on the positive and negative experiences in their closest relationship.
The results showed that people with more positive relationship experiences and fewer negative relationship experiences tended to have lower stress, cope better, and have lower blood pressure reactivity, which indicates better physiological functioning. Additionally, variability in negative relationship experiences was especially predictive of stress, coping, and blood pressure. While these results cannot determine causality, they show that relationship experiences and physical health are related.
One of the study’s authors noted that an important broader implication of this study is that outside stressors may impact relationships, which may in turn affect our physical health. For example, the COVID-19 pandemic put an extreme strain on many relationships, and its impact on relationships may have led to further issues with our physical health. It also likely impacted stress and coping via its impacts on personal relationships, which amplified the other negative impacts of the pandemic and the resulting isolation. In the future, other research may further explore how relationship experiences influence physiology, including responses in hormone production and the nervous system.
Sources: Social Psychological and Personality Science, ScienceDaily
