Feeling the ‘Rocky’ in Relationships

The Huffington Post:

In 2008, a massive earthquake shook the Chinese province of Sichuan. Measuring 8.0, the quake killed more than 69,000, injured countless more, and left 4.8 million homeless. The Chinese government has spent billions on the region’s recovery, which even now is incomplete.

The immediate devastation in Sichuan was also followed by a dramatic spike in the divorce rate, a phenomenon that captured international attention — and sparked widespread speculation — at the time. Did the deadly earthquake actually cause the jump in marital breakups?

The spike might have been a coincidence, though that’s unlikely. It could also have been that severe emotional and financial stress took a toll on the relationships. That’s certainly plausible. But it might also have been something much more basic. It could be that the turbulence itself — the shaking and crumbling of the physical environment in Sichuan — triggered cognitive and emotional turbulence, undermining personal commitment in the process.

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When they crunched the data, all the studies supported the notion of embodied shakiness. As reported in a forthcoming issue of the journal Psychological Science, actual physical instability led people to perceive their relationships as less likely to last. But more important, these perceptions were associated with less satisfaction and less relationship commitment. It’s known that people who experience less satisfaction and commitment are more likely to break up down the road.

Read the whole story: The Huffington Post

Wray Herbert is an author and award-winning journalist who writes two popular blogs for APS, We’re Only Human and Full Frontal Psychology. Follow Wray on Twitter @wrayherbert.