Abstract
While physiological stress responses have been well investigated in
individuals, the effects of stress on interpersonal physiological
processes have been studied less frequently. In the current study, we
focused on how stress affects physiological synchrony (PS) – i.e., the
alignment of physiological changes across individuals – an established
phenomenon characterizing social interactions. We hypothesized that PS,
specifically cardiac PS, would be altered in romantic couples if one of
the partners was exposed to a standardized stressor. In a preregistered
study, N = 75 couples (mean age = 22.66 ±2.99, 51% female) were
separated upon arrival in the laboratory. In n = 38 dyads, one partner
was exposed to a laboratory stressor while the other completed a
non-stressful control task (stress dyads), in the other dyads both
partners underwent the control paradigm (control dyads). Afterward,
partners were reunited, completing a non-verbal synchronization, a
walking, and a free interaction task. Partners rated their own and each
others’ affect throughout the experiment. Compared to a non-interactive
baseline, PS increased during the partners’ interaction. Cardiac
synchrony related to parasympathetic nervous system (PNS) activity was
lower in stress compared to control dyads. Further, participants were
more accurate in estimating their partner’s emotional valence if their
partner was non-stressed. Our findings indicate the disruption of
especially PNS-related PS. This highlights that stress is not only an
intra- but also interpersonal phenomenon whose effects on the
interpersonal physiology of social interactions should be further
investigated.