中華心理衛生協會

 Purpose: We used dyadic analysis to explore the relationship of external stress and relationship stress to emotional expression between husbands and wives in Taiwan. Methods: A total of 92 couples in Southern Taiwan participated in a 15 minute session of laboratory-based conflict discussion. They were video-recorded with their informed consent. They also completed questionnaires on external stress and relationship stress. Two researchers separately used the 24 codes from the Chinese Specific Affect system to code the emotional behaviors expressed during each couple's conflict. We applied dyadic analysis to examine the interdependence of the variables. Results: For both husbands and wives, external stress positively corresponded with the perception of relational stress. The wives' positive-oriented emotional expression was affected both by her husband's and her own perception of relational stress. In contrast, a husband's positive-oriented emotional expression was mainly influenced by his wife's perception of relational stress. Conclusions: The gender difference we identified suggests that the wife's perception of relationship stress impacts the positive-oriented emotional expressions of the couple. Future research should explore whether these findings are linked with the particular dyadic interactions investigated or whether they reflect culturally-related factors for Taiwanese couples.