We are interested in how people in romantic relationships talk with their partner about every day things. Whether their daily experiences are positive or negative, we would like to know more about how much people talk about these events, their perceptions of these conversations, and how they feel about the relationship and their partner.
To better understand how these daily conversations affect a relationship, we asked participants to complete an initial 20 minute set of questionnaires, and then follow-up with two 10 minute daily questionnaires one and ten days later. In the initial questionnaires, we asked questions about participants' relationships and personal characteristics. In the daily questionnaires we asked participants to describe in more detail any conversations they may have had with their partners that day. Some participants were also asked to complete daily questionnaires twice, once the day after the initial questionnaires and a second time ten days later.
The first phase of the study provided us with important information about what couples talk about day to day, and how they deal with both positive and negative daily events in the context of their relationships. For the second phase of the study, we invited all participants to complete questionnaires 6 and 12 months following their original participation. The follow-up study is now complete. Results from the follow-up are being prepared for publication and we will be posting a summary of the results by May 2008.
Please click here to learn about the results from this research.