TY - JOUR
T1 - Physiological linkage to an interaction partner is negatively associated with stability in sympathetic nervous system responding
AU - Thorson, Katherine R.
AU - West, Tessa V.
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors would like to thank the research assistants from the West Interpersonal Perception Lab for their dedication to this research. Syntax and data for all analyses can be found at https://osf.io/6s87a/ . Some of the data in this manuscript are reported in Thorson, Forbes, et al., 2018 (available upon request); however, none of these findings are related to the association between physiological linkage and physiological stability. The authors have no competing interests to declare. This work was supported by the National Science Foundation [ DRL1535414 ].
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 Elsevier B.V.
PY - 2018/10
Y1 - 2018/10
N2 - Recent work has demonstrated that people can be influenced by the physiological states of their interaction partners, showing physiological linkage to them from one moment to the next. In a study of unacquainted dyads who interacted for 30 min (ndyads = 47), we examine the novel question: Are people who show physiological linkage to their partners in sympathetic nervous system responding also less stable in their own responses? Understanding this relationship has important implications for how social relationships impact affective functioning and health. Results using multilevel modeling demonstrated that the within-person correlation between linkage and stability was negative—the more dyad members were physiologically influenced by their interaction partners, the less stable they were in their own physiological responding. This work shows that physiological linkage can come at a cost to people's own stability, meaning our physiological states are more vulnerable to social influence than previously thought.
AB - Recent work has demonstrated that people can be influenced by the physiological states of their interaction partners, showing physiological linkage to them from one moment to the next. In a study of unacquainted dyads who interacted for 30 min (ndyads = 47), we examine the novel question: Are people who show physiological linkage to their partners in sympathetic nervous system responding also less stable in their own responses? Understanding this relationship has important implications for how social relationships impact affective functioning and health. Results using multilevel modeling demonstrated that the within-person correlation between linkage and stability was negative—the more dyad members were physiologically influenced by their interaction partners, the less stable they were in their own physiological responding. This work shows that physiological linkage can come at a cost to people's own stability, meaning our physiological states are more vulnerable to social influence than previously thought.
KW - Dyadic interaction
KW - Physiological linkage
KW - Physiological stability
KW - Social psychophysiology
KW - Within-person variability
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U2 - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.08.004
DO - 10.1016/j.biopsycho.2018.08.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 30121287
AN - SCOPUS:85052759246
SN - 0301-0511
VL - 138
SP - 91
EP - 95
JO - Biological Psychology
JF - Biological Psychology
ER -