The researchers found that WhatsApp reflects the way we interact with each other offline, and it provides a second platform for relationships or a place for debate and reconciliation. What’s more, the researchers say, “Mail from WhatsApp not only provides another forum to conduct a relationship, but it can also save it.”
John Gottman, clinical psychologist and mathematician, acknowledges the value of conflict in relationships and asserts that the ability to handle disagreements forms the basis of a strong alliance. In addition, he discovered three patterns of conflict resolution in relationships that could help predict their stability.
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Three patterns of conflicting behavior in a stable partnership are presented in WhatsApp Communications:
Avoid, dodge: People who were ‘avoidant’ showed less frequent WhatsApp interactions and lack of communication between stressful situations. Gottman’s first type of result, which is characterized by the low degree of interdependence that exists in relationships between non-confrontational couples, is consistent with this behavior, also representing the domains partners’ different interests. Couples that ‘stay away’ can use WhatsApp as a separate pastime they do apart from each other.
For example, when describing conflict with his partner, A, from Tel Aviv told the researchers, “We fight in silence.” E, from the Sharon region, says she almost went crazy when her partner purposely didn’t reply to her on WhatsApp. T, from the south of the country, said, “At home, we don’t fight, we go to bed … and, in parallel, on WhatsApp, it’s a chilling peace.” In all of these cases, the couples maintained positive social interactions through WhatsApp with friends and family. A couple’s avoidance of interaction during a fight, and the degree of readiness for each other during regular activities, reflect a lack of mutual interest and reluctance to listen to each other.
Emotion: Relationships that have experienced emotional conflict tend to communicate more frequently both on a daily basis and during conflict. These couples talked about their efforts to convince each other that took place directly and simultaneously on WhatsApp. This behavior belongs to Gottman’s second type of behavior, defined by the lack of distinction between personal space and public space in a partnership.
When I argued with L, face-to-face, I yelled and yelled for the world to hear, but on WhatsApp, I couldn’t ignore, H, from the south asserts. I have an infinite supply of exclamation points to use in my documents. Couples who talk about emotional disagreements have explained how a fight that started at home in the morning can continue over WhatsApp and even show up in family group chats sometimes. There were also instances where the controversial issues from the couple’s WhatsApp chats spilled over into their face-to-face interactions.
Reasonable: Gottman’s third category describes the ability of couples to listen to each other during disputes. Although conflicts that couples have chosen not to resolve on WhatsApp may not appear in this category. The moderate and balanced graph of couples’ WhatsApp correspondence, shown in the main body of the study, reflects this trend.
A, and A, from Modi’in, have revealed how they developed their fighting skills over the course of their 20-year relationship. “Our communication on WhatsApp is a language we made, and it helps us figure out how to resolve conflicts – sometimes by laughing at a dispute with the right emoji, or at the very least, by putting it into perspective.. Sometimes re-reading correspondence (after a fight) helps me understand my partner’s point of view, “R. from the north of the country continued. In these situations, chances are the couple could use the app when trying to fix things.
The visual models (4, 5, and 6) on the following pages provide conceptual descriptions of partner conflict escalation in both face-to-face and WhatsApp interactions. An in-depth examination of the WhatsApp communication graph reveals a seismometer that tracks changes in the relationship and a metronome that tracks changes in the pair’s speed dynamics. By watching the couple’s interactions live on WhatsApp, we can learn more about our own roles in relationships and how to make them stronger through acts of kindness and expression. sincere feelings.
The study included interviews with 18 couples, aged 35 to 50, who had been together for more than 5 years over the course of a year. Israelis from different backgrounds and regions of the country participated in the interviews (religious, secular, same-sex). The couple’s use of WhatsApp was the main subject of content analysis; Researchers have discovered technical, real, normal, and emotional relationship patterns.
Source: Medindia
