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Interactional Synchrony In Romantic Couples: Linking Dynamic Systems Of Nonverbal Behavior With Outcome Data, Darren J. Garcia

Doctoral Dissertations

Abstract

The aim of this study was to bridge the growing body of research on interactional synchrony with variables reflecting relationship quality in romantic couples. Video data from 116 romantic couples who participated in a short-term relationship intervention (Gordon et al., 2019) and their self-report assessments of relationship satisfaction, emotional intimacy, and constructive communication patterns were used for analyses. Movement was objectively quantified for each partner using Motion Energy Analysis (MEA; Ramseyer & Tschacher, 2011), an automated frame-differencing method. Cross-lag correlations of the time-series data were then aggregated and operationalized as interactional synchrony. Empirical relationships between interactional synchrony and relationship …