REDUCING RELATIONSHIP CONFLICT DURING THE PANDEMIC E XP R ESSIV E WRIT ING REDUCES REL ATI ONSHI P CONFL I C T AND A G G RE SS ION Matthew Cimitile
Romantic conflict is known to have escalated during the COVID-19 pandemic. Lockdowns prevented people from working at the office, meeting friends at restaurants and traveling. Fear and uncertainties about jobs, health, finances and the future seeped into how partners interacted with one another. A survey conducted early in the pandemic and published in the Journal of Sex & Marital Therapy found that 34 percent of participants in relationships had increased conflicts due to the spread of COVID-19 and quarantining measures. Other research indicates lockdowns exacerbated domestic violence nationally and internationally. Those findings prompted Lindsey Rodriguez to explore potential strategies couples could use to reduce conflict during challenging times. The associate professor of psychology led a survey of 716 American adults across the U.S. and at the height of the pandemic lockdowns to find out if writing about relationship troubles from the point of view of a neutral observer would result in less conflict and aggression towards one’s partner. Participants, who were divided equally among males and females and all cohabiting with their partner, were asked to fill out a baseline assessment
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to measure the frequency, duration and intensity of conflicts in the relationship, followed by a brief writing exercise. Some individuals were asked to write about a recent disagreement in their relationship from the point of view of a neutral third party who had the couples’ best interest in mind, such as a mutual friend. These individuals were asked to use this perspective while interacting with their partner in the coming weeks. Another cohort was asked to express their deepest thoughts and feelings about problems in their relationship or with another person, while others were told to write about mundane tasks like laundry, house cleaning or lawn care. Two weeks later, participants completed an assessment asking about recent relationship events with their partners. Results showed that those who wrote about disagreements with their partner from the point of view of a neutral third-party reported fewer disagreements, fewer aggression
