Studies Suggest You’re More Likely To Notice Your Partner’s Negative Behaviour If You’re Under Stress

By Priyadarshini Malavia Updated September 28, 2022 3:47 PM

I am a pretty salty single who memes on insta-couples enjoying rubbing their relationship in everyone’s faces. Yeah, yeah call me a troller/hater, whatever but we have all been that petty at some point in our lives, this only works if we are honest with each other. And now my very salty self has gotten validation because of this study that talks about couples noticing more of each other’s inconsiderate behaviours due to stress in other aspects of their lives. Mera kata hai toh sabka katna chaiye! *shrugs*

The Society for Personally and Social Psychology has conducted a study to see whether people are more inclined to observe their partner’s negative behaviours closely while they are dealing with stressful life events or daily hassles. According to the study, a person who is under stress is more likely to notice their spouse’s negative than positive behaviour. Stress, meanwhile, might have an impact on the initial behaviours that partners pick up on. Negative behaviours being watched for included a spouse violating a promise, being irate or angry, or disparaging their partner.

Also Read: WHO Study Reveals Women Suffer From Long Covid Twice As Much As Men. Sigh, Just Take Women’s Trouble And Make It Double

Dr Lisa Neff says that they found that people are more likely to notice their partners’ inconsiderate behaviours if they are going through a stressful time personally. She added that studying newlyweds asserts that couples are more likely to overlook each other’s negative behaviours during the honeymoon period. She said that the stress of the pandemic still lingers among a lot of people which can negatively impact a person and their romantic relationship.

79 heterosexual newlywed couples were given ten days to respond to a short survey outlining their own and their partner’s actions. Participants completed a questionnaire that contained information on stressful life situations before beginning the questionnaire. According to research, a single stressful day wasn’t sufficient to cause someone to get fixated on their partner’s inconsiderate behaviour, but repeated exposure to stressful situations was. The findings also suggest that people under stress were more likely to notice their partner’s negative behaviours than they were to notice their partner’s considerate actions.

Also Read: From Deepika-Ranveer To Kareena-Saif, Here Are 5 Celebrity Couples Who Have Great Reel And Real-Life Chemistry!

Dr Neff said that while correcting behaviours could limit the damage caused, it is still a hypothesis which can be confirmed or denied when the study’s scope is expanded beyond couples in the honeymoon phase. She said that there are chances that these feelings of negativity towards one’s partner due to stress may be more prevalent amongst couples who are no longer in the honeymoon stage of their marriage. She said that being able to find traces of conflict among newlyweds during the honeymoon period proves how much impact stress can have.

All jokes aside, whether you are single, married, dating or “it’s complicated” stress is bound to have a negative impact on not only your relationships but other aspects of your life like physical, mental and emotional health. Hence, I believe that open and honest communication is key to maintaining a good relationship. While fights and disagreements are inevitable, it doesn’t have to escalate to something serious like a breakup.