Knowing your partner is not enough: spousal importance moderates the link between attitude familiarity and ambulatory blood pressure

Electrocardiographic activity depends on the relative position between intimate persons

Interpersonal space (IPS) refers to the area surrounding the body in which we engage in social interactions while maintaining our comfort. Numerous previous studies have reported the psychological and physiological changes associated with the proximity of two people engaged in face-to-face interaction. Currently, there is limited knowledge about how the relative position between two socially intimate individuals affects their psychological and physiological states. This research measured the subjective discomfort and electrocardiographic responses of participants when standing static at various relative positions. The highest discomfort, lowest heart rate, and highest heart rate variability (HRV; parasympathetic activity index) were observed when the friend stood in the face-to-face position. Interestingly, heart rate also decreased when the friend stood on the right side, although HRV did not change. We interpreted the results as suggesting that the presence of a familiar person elicits the electrocardiographic responses associated with an increase in parasympathetic activity.

Attitude Strength

Attitude strength has been the focus of a huge volume of research in psychology and related sciences for decades. The insights offered by this literature have tremendous value for understanding attitude functioning and structure and for the effective application of the attitude concept in applied settings. This is the first Annual Review of Psychology article on the topic, and it offers a review of theory and evidence regarding one of the most researched strength-related attitude features: attitude importance. Personal importance is attached to an attitude when the attitude is perceived to be relevant to self-interest, social identification with reference groups or reference individuals, and values. Attaching personal importance to an attitude causes crystallizing of attitudes (via enhanced resistance to change), effortful gathering and processing of relevant information, accumulation of a large store of well-organized relevant information in long-term memory, enhanced attitude extremity and accessibility, enhanced attitude impact on the regulation of interpersonal attraction, energizing of emotional reactions, and enhanced impact of attitudes on behavioral intentions and action. Thus, important attitudes are real and consequential psychological forces, and their study offers opportunities for addressing behavioral change.

Accuracy and Positivity in Adolescent Perceptions of Parent Behavior

Forming accurate perceptions is often linked to positive relationship and individual functioning, yet may also be detrimental in some contexts. The current study examined whether accuracy may be detrimental to individual functioning, both psychological and physiological, in an important social context: parent–adolescent relationships. Specifically, we examined whether the accuracy of adolescents’ perceptions of their parent’s behaviors was associated with adolescent psychological adjustment (depression and perceived stress; Ndyads = 99) and proinflammatory profiles ( Ndyads = 95). Adolescents who viewed their parent’s behaviors more accurately (more in line with external observers’ ratings) reported worse psychological adjustment and demonstrated worse regulation of the inflammatory response. In contrast, adolescents who viewed their parent’s behaviors highly normatively and positively reported better psychological adjustment. Overall, these findings suggest that adolescent accuracy regarding parent behaviors may be detrimental to adolescent psychological adjustment and inflammatory processes.