Relationships get marred when spouses are too close to each other
By ANISaturday, January 22, 2011
LONDON - A new study has suggested that relationships can get marred if spouses are too close to each other.
According to psychologists, when two people know each other too well they assume too much shared knowledge and their language becomes dangerously vague.
They believe that this “closeness communication bias” can lead to long-term misunderstandings, rows and even relationship problems.
The research by University of Chicago and Williams College in Massachusetts found that often couples and good friends communicate with each other no better than they do with strangers.
“People commonly believe that they communicate better with close friends than with strangers,” the Telegraph quoted Prof Boaz Keysar, co-author, as saying.
“That closeness can lead people to overestimate how well they communicate. Your language can become so ambiguous. The brain becomes lazy.
“But it can backfire and the misunderstanding can lead to rows in the future,” he stated.
Prof Kenneth Savitsky, who is Prof Keysar’s colleague, said it was always important to bear in mind the point of view of others - no matter how close to them you are.
“Our problem in communicating with friends and spouses is that we have an illusion of insight. Getting close to someone appears to create the illusion of understanding more than actual understanding,” co-author Prof Nicholas Epley added.
The research has been published in the journal of Experimental Social Psychology. (ANI)
